


Integrated Circuit.

by Lopaka_Tanu



Series: Daniel of Malksur [3]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe, Character Death, Episode: s02e02 In the Line of Duty, Episode: s02e11/12 The Tok'ra, F/M, M/M, Symbiot, Tok'ra, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-10
Updated: 2012-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-29 07:29:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 49,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/317304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lopaka_Tanu/pseuds/Lopaka_Tanu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pain and sorrow have marred the once hopeful staff of the SGC. With recent changes in the staff, people are questioning the security of their positions. The Tok'ra, faced with problems of their own, depend more on their allies than ever before. Fighting among the Goa'uld has them fearing it is something more. Caught in the middle, can the allies survive an all out war?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Integrated Circuit.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG-1.

The Alkesh shuddered in response to the explosions along the hull. Rapid firing caused ship's lights to blink on and off before going out. Several explosions rocked the ship before the walls buckled under the pressure and the entire compartment was exposed to space. Quickly, a force field settled over the hole, but not before two of the Jaffa in the cockpit were sucked out.

They were about to bring the ship around for another attack when the enemy suddenly disappeared from sight. Leaning forward in his chair, the Goa'uld Ptah's mask turned to face his First Prime. "What happened to them?"

"I do not know, my lord. The Alkesh was behind us a moment ago, now nothing." At the main control, Neros stared in shock at the readouts. "I can find no trace of the enemy Alkesh."

Growling in frustration, Ptah gestured for the man to be shot from behind. "Bring us about to the planet, continue scanning."

"Aye, my lord." The new First Prime kicked his predecessor from the chair and took his place. Activating the controls, he controlled the ship to make a descent back towards the planet's surface. "Entering the atmosphere and signaling the palace for repairs."

"Have they found who damaged my Ha'tak?" In his mask, Ptah awaited the response. When none was forth coming, he turned red glowing eyes upon the Jaffa. "I command you to answer!"

"A dead man can tell no tales."

Spinning in his chair, arm raised to fire the ribbon weapon, Ptah was caught off guard and thrown from his throne by a ribbon blast. As he crashed to the ground, his helmet retreated back in to the armored collar. He tried to stand up but was hit by another blast.

"Remain where you are." Ascending to the throne, the figure pressed a jewel on his wrist device. "Ptah has been neutralized, but alive."

"We have no use for it, toss it in to space and retrieve the Alkesh."

Hands curling in to fists, the black garbed figure turned on Ptah. Blue eyes flashing gold, he raised his arm and activated the personal shield. His free hand slammed down on the control panel of the throne and the emergency field holding the air in the compartment shut down.

The last thing Ptah saw before his body exploded was the outside of his ship from the vacuum of space.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"In the last three months we have lost contact with over a dozen minor goa'uld. What all these goa'uld have in common, aside from the fact they are of little to no importance, is that they are on the edge of territories belonging to the most powerful system lords." Kolak waved a hand over the holo imager and the image of a star field exploded over the briefing room table. "The green stars each represent the sight of an attack."

"Do you have any idea who is behind this?" Saroush folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. It was becoming harder for her to come to these meetings, but that would not stop her until she was dead. They still needed her in spite of her advanced age.

"No, and that is what is upsetting the Council." The operative sat forward in her chair, arms folded on the table. "We believed it was important that you know this information. Tension among the system lords is mounting and the situation may be come critical at any time."

"Thank you, it is very kind of our allies." Hammond acknowledged Kolak with a smile then turned to the new heads of his staff. On his right sat Saroush, head of cultural studies; Major Maybourne, head of security; and Dr. Fraiser, chief medical officer. To his left sat Jack, second in command and head of SG-1; Major Carter, head of technologies; and finally Teal'c, arms commander. "With the weapons you have so recently provided, we have begun to train our personnel to repel invasions both here and our off world bases."

"Speaking of bases, how is the new Alpha site coming, General?" Carter tried to keep up a professional expression, but her recent brush with her father put her off. "I am sorry I had to take time off, but it couldn't be helped. Dr. Fraiser says now that my wounds have healed, I can get back to work."

"Only temporarily. You still have three months of therapy before you can return to field duty." Janet gave her friend a smile at the half hearted glare Sam sent her. Adjusting her lab coat, she spun the chair a little to face the General. "She can return to the lab and work on those weapons the Tok'ra have brought us any time, just so long as she doesn't over do it. I am trusting everyone here to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Agreed." Smiling paternally at her sigh, he adjusted the papers in front of him. He could tell something was the matter with her, but decided to wait until after the briefing. "As for your question, Captain, the Alpha site is only one of three off world bases we have established with the aid of the Tok'ra. Most of our experimenting with the new weapons is taking place there. Captain Bach is the head of R&D at the Alpha site, he has prepared briefs for you awaiting in your office."

"Thanks, sir. I've been a little busy so I haven't had the time to stop by there yet." Sam hadn't exactly lied, she had been too preoccupied with what her father had told her to keep much of anything on her mind. It was killing her that he knew he was dying and had basically told her to mind her own damned business. The fact that the job he offered wasn't what she wanted, only seemed to be a bigger affront to his dignity. Now she was back in exile, only this time there was no hope of reconcile. She would be an orphan in name, not just spirit.

Hammond noticed her distracted look and politely ignored it. He had a pretty good idea what this was about. There were times he cursed his old friend more than the Goa'uld. Folding his hands, he turned his attention back to the Tok'ra operative. "Is there anything else we should know about these?"

"Yes." Pulling out a small laser pointer that had been provided by the SGC during the exchange, she pointed it at the green stars. "None of these worlds is in existence anymore. Whatever attacked, destroyed the planet and left no traces that there was ever an occupied world there to begin with. If you check their addresses against those found on the Abydos cartouche, you will find they were previously charted addresses."

Jack waved his hand to get Kolak's attention. "Whoa, hold on a minute. Just to clarify, you mean they wiped out the surface of these planets, right?"

Inclining her head, Kolak flattened her lips in distaste. "I did not lie, Colonel O'Neill. The planet itself was completely obliterated." At a gesture from Saroush, she sat back and took a less hostile posture. "The technology exists, but it is a tightly controlled weapon only in the power of the system lords. Beyond our grasp at the moment."

"Bet that gauls you that ya haven't been able to get your hands on these weapons yet?" There was a dangerous tone to Jack's question that made even him flinch. Sighing, he ran a hand down his face. "Sorry, I just found out the goa'ulds have the ability to drop a bomb on us and wipe out all of civilization."

"It is quite all right, Colonel. Your limited understanding of the universe is easily forgivable." Kolak smiled sweetly at him before aiming the laser pointer at the largest green star. "Until three days ago, this was a disputed territory of the former supreme system lord Ra. When he died, his generals split up the empire he ruled, each claiming to be his successor. One of the more disputed sectors until now has been this solar system.

"Up to just three days ago, it was controlled by the ruthless system lord and architect of Ra's fleet, Ptah. His design of war ships was renown among the Goa'uld. He preferred to use the Alkesh design, a type of heavy bomber. In fact, of the one thousand ships he controlled, only four were Mother Ships." She flashed the laser at the star and it enlarged to take over the entire holo image.

"Two days ago Baal launched a fleet against Ptah to test his defenses once again, he found no resistance. Not in any of the twelve solar systems Ptah controlled. Ptah's entire fleet has simply vanished, his home world left to rubble." The reactions of the people gathered didn't impress Kolak enough so she leaned on the table to get their attention. "Ptah was no minor, insignificant lord. Ptah was a rival even for Apophis before you shamed him in defeat. If nothing else, this is a clear message to the System Lords that someone among their number is serious. Whoever they are, the threat to not just us but your civilization is unprecedented."

"Do you have any idea who it might be? Your network is pretty extensive, surely you must know something." Harry felt pretty stupid to be the one asking, but it had to be said. From what he learned about these people, they didn't lie to you directly. However, unless you specified what you wanted to know, they wouldn't tell you.

"We know what the System Lords do not know. It is one entity or organization. Every major System Lord has been hit. Our theory is that a group of minor lords have taken possession of the planet destroying technology. They are using it in coordinated strikes to amass a fleet then destroying the planets. This serves two purposes, to hide their involvement and place blame on another System Lord." Swallowing, Kolak took a deep breath to steady her panicking host. "It is working. Two of our Operatives were killed by the Goa'uld Cronus when they tried to infiltrate his armies as defectors from rival Goa'uld. This was just days after a border world on the far side of his empire was destroyed."

"Unless we find out who, there is a chance that all of our operatives may be at risk. The Council has asked that you keep the worm hole on the beta site unshielded in case one of our people must flee through the gate."

Hammond sat back in his chair, raising an eyebrow in thought. "I don't think..."

"Please, we understand that it is risk. We need a world to act as a stopping point before they may gate home safely. The Beta site has not been established beyond ground surveys and would work best. We could install weapons on the gate to stop any unwanted incursions without putting an iris over the worm hole. Colonel Shirkov has given his support on this, despite that it would be his command forfeited if you agreed." Kolak tried not to sound too desperate.

"Very well, I will take this into consideration." Nodding at her, Hammond felt disturbed by the lack of information she provided. "What else can you tell us about these attacks? Aside from the fact they are provoking the System Lords in to war with each other, is there anything specific about them, a pattern?"

"No. That is what has been most disturbing." This she felt more comfortable with discussing. She had been studying the Tau'ri and their information gathering ways. "According to the Council and Major Davis, whom I have been working with to understand your language, there has been no MO on which to project any specific attacks. That is why we believe there is more than one person planning these attacks. What may seem random to us, may in fact be a set of collaborations based around personal vendettas. Which, as you know, is the source of most Goa'uld battles."

"Damn. Thank the Council and Major Davis for me." As he spoke, she rose from the table. "You will of course keep us informed."

Kolak nodded her ascent. "Of course. The Council wishes nothing but open existence between us."

"That's good."

She smiled at him, bowed slightly then swept out of the room.

"Well that was painful." Fiddling with his pencil, Jack swished his chair from side to side. "That woman's edges are so sharp I thought she was gonna cut her way through the table."

"She is efficient." Placing her hands together, Saroush tapped her fingers against one another in thought. Her mind kept going over the information that was implied and wondering just how bad it had gotten in her absence. "From what little they know, I am surprised they even reported this to us at all. Usually they wish to have some form of solid evidence before they presented their findings."

"Perhaps they wish to know if we had any information we had not shared," Teal'c added. He too found this strange, if not alarming.

Sighing, Hammond felt that it was more than that. "Perhaps. Then again, perhaps they wish us to find out for them. They are after all unable to infiltrate the major goa'uld strong holds. Teal'c, I want your teams ready for action by the end of the month. If we are going to have to be the ones to find out, I don't want any surprises."

Teal'c inclined his head. "As you wish, General Hammond."

"Major, get those new designs for security systems on my desk by the end of the day. I want to approve them and begin implementation immediately. Doctor, the same goes for you. If we can improve the triage and save as many lives as possible, all the better. Jack, you and I will brief the team leaders, you will handle any problems they have in those regards." Taking a quick breath, he turned to Captain Carter. "I need you to review the weapons data Captain Bach has sent us. There are some new designs he was talking about. The flaws in them, if solved, can provide us with greater protection."

"Aye, sir, I will get right on it."

"Dismissed. Captain, if I may have word with you." Hammond waited until the others had left before he addressed his concerns. Leaning forward on the table, he patted her hand tenderly. "I heard about your father, if there is anything I can do to help fix this, I am willing to try."

"Sir, he's dying and he doesn't want me around to see it. There is nothing you or I can do about it, and quite frankly, sir, I don't even want to try. His mind is made up and I just can't handle being told to fuck off again by my own father." Taking a shuddering breath, she rubbed at a spot between her eyes. "If you don't mind, sir, I got a lot of work to do."

"Actually, Captain, there is something else." Shifting the folders in front of him to grab at the one on bottom, he handed it over to her. "Recent events have made the security arrangements around here even more complicated. With off world bases operating with commissioned staff and the SGC being the central hub, your position can no longer be held by the rank of anything less than a Major."

Sam froze, letting the folder fall back on the table unopened. "Are you telling me I am no longer in charge of the technologies department, sir?"

"No. I am telling you that as of the end of this month, you will be given the field promotion of Major. At the next congressional meeting, the promotion will be confirmed and everything it entitles will be conferred on to you. Congratulations, Major Samantha Carter."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nirrti sat the flask down she had been drinking from, the sweet liquid inside making her feel slightly flushed. Recent changes in the guard had allowed her to once again indulge in the recreational substances. Stretching back over the couch, she allowed her hair to fall in cascades from the end. When her cats batted at the beads in the locks, she broke out into a laughing fit. Seeing her son playing with his pet made her laugh even harder.

Holding Aldwin by the back of his neck, Daniel gathered him close and trailed his free hand down the drugged Tok'ra's body. His fingers caught in the pubic hair and twirled them in to curls. His fingers lightly touched the warm erection, each time causing Aldwin to softly gasp. Daniel bent down and ran a tongue over his throat to his ear and nipped the lobe. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

Naked from tip to toe, Aldwin shivered from the words. "Yes."

Daniel's fingers tightened until painful. "You should enjoy this, it is the last time you will ever feel the narcotic effects of the hash hisha!" Pulling him to his feet, he dragged the now struggling man from his the queen's bed chamber.

"Let me go! What do you think you are doing?" Aldwin tried to gain some footing only to have his legs kicked out from under him by Daniel. His hands shot out and locked on to Daniel's belt and tugged himself up.

"Did you spawn with her?" The harsh whisper filled the empty corridor of the palace. Daniel had purposely dismissed the guards so he may confront his fellow operative in private. When Aldwin only continued to hold on to him for support, Daniel grabbed him by the head with both hands and forced him to look him in the face. "Did you spawn with her?"

Aldwin frowned. Trying to concentrate, he found his mind kept wandering and losing his train of thought. "Spawn?"

"Did you fuck Nirrti?" His fingers tightened until the drugged Tok'ra cried out in pain. "Pay attention. Did you have sex with the queen?"

Trying to shake his head, he found the grip prevented him. "No, no. She wanted to, but I couldn't make it work. I think she drugged me."

"Of course, you fool." Hauling him to his feet, Daniel slid his hands down Aldwin's body and gripped him by the balls and ass hard. "You belong to me, remember. If I wished to, it would not be beyond me to cut this off."

He winced from the pain. Nodding, he found himself slammed up against the wall by Daniel and pinned bodily there. "What are you doing?"

"I've been very busy. You will distract me from my work." Placing his face in the neck of his lover, Daniel inhaled the sickening scent of the drugs and growled. "There will be no more of this, do you understand. No more. We can't afford you to become so careless!"

"I wasn't! She drugged me!" Aldwin found himself the unwilling bearer of several bite marks as he wrapped himself around Daniel. "Jolinar, I would never willingly jeopardize the mission."

"See that you don't." Daniel pulled back. Staring in to the man's eyes, he pressed him by the throat in to the wall. "I have been lenient up til now with your petty indulgences, my pet. If you are caught in her presence unguarded again, I will not spare you a second time." Pushing the other man from his body, Daniel let him fall to the floor and walked away.

Aldwin rubbed at his sore body and coughed. Gasping for air, he caught sight of the barely clothed figure of Nirrti retreating back to her rooms. Fear gripped him as he realized how close they had come to discovery. Yet again he wondered why Jolinar delayed their return to the Tok'ra. This was becoming far too dangerous for them.

Making up his drug addled mind, he climbed to his feet and shakily headed for Malek's rooms. If Jolinar was back, then so was his fellow operative. If he couldn't talk sense in to his supposed lover, then he would reason with their colleague.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam sat at her desk reviewing the data on her computer. This was the tenth time she had tried to figure out what was wrong with the presentation but couldn't understand why. Everything seemed in order, it was a straight forward information packet about a modified, multi shot staff weapon. The design was for Teal'c's people and the Special Forces teams he had been trying to teach the Jaffa fighting tactics too.

There was something wrong with the design of the entire thing, yet she couldn't put her finger on it. It just felt wrong some how. Setting it down with a sigh, she decided to take a break from it.

Thinking to take a break, she pushed back from the desk. The knock on her door distracted her and she shot back in to the wall. Wincing from the twinges of pain, she climbed out of the chair. "Come in."

"Carter, just coming to check up on ya." Jack poked his head in her door. Upon seeing her, he walked in all the way. "Is there something the matter, Captain?"

"No, sir. I just can't seem to concentrate on these designs." Gesturing at said item, she walked around to stand in front of her desk. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Not really." Frowning, he continued to glance around her office. With his eyebrows raised, he returned his attention to her face. "Hey, heard about the new promotion, congratulations are in order! Wanna go out and celebrate? My treat. What do ya say?"

Smiling, she shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea, Jack. I am still on the medicine and a night of boozing it up is not on Janet's list of okays. Besides, I have too much I need catch up on here." Leaning back against her desk, she winced.

Jack caught the reaction. Stepping closer to her, he put a hand on the unharmed shoulder and squeezed gently. "We are friends, yes?"

"Yes, we are." There was nothing more to say about it. They were friends, but he was still her CO, it kinda forbade any other situations. As it was, in her opinion they had been spending too much time together recently. Putting on a fake smile, she patted his hand. "Sir, why don't you take Teal'c with you and pick me up something from the Mushu Taipei. Bring it back and we can eat here. All three of us."

Jack caught her meaning and smiled. Stepping back, he held his hands at his sides with no where else to put them. "I'll do that. Anything special?"

"You know what I like, sir. Just make sure to get extra duck sauce this time. Daniel eats that.... You know what, just get me whatever is on the menu. I am sure I will enjoy it." For a minute there she had forgotten. The last time they had gotten the take out was before Daniel... Her mind bulking from the idea, she stood up suddenly. "Get Teal'c something from the fried menu tonight, he hasn't had that yet."

"Yeah, I'll do that." Backing out of the room, he gestured over his shoulder. "I'll just go get T and be right back."

"Thanks, Jack, I'll be here when you get back." She waved him through the door then sighed with relief as he disappeared and the door closed. It wasn't that she didn't want to be around him, it was the fact that he was starting to look at her in more than just a CO kinda way. Sam felt the attraction to him, but it was more than she could handle right now. Ignoring it was the best option.

Figuring there was no need to take another break, she turned around to look at her desk. Seeing them upside down, it suddenly occurred to her. "Of course!" She ran around behind her desk and pulled out a packet of trace paper. Holding it over the design, she redid several parts and smiled at the new product. "Now it works."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It amuses me to no end that you are still with us." Garshaw pushed the crystal across the playing board towards her opponent's goal. When she captured his piece, she smiled at his glower. "That you have lasted these many months among our people is a testimony to your strength of will."

"Not really." Taking her piece with one of his own, Paul set it aside with a smirk. His triumph grew as her eyes glowed. "I find your people very interesting. They are like nothing I have encountered, yet there is very little difference between us."

"I see. It has been our pleasure having you here. The ties between our peoples have increased greatly thanks to you. There was so much about the Tau'ri we have forgotten since the goa'uld abandoned it." Frowning, she moved another piece and removed his next to it. She was about to declare game when his piece took hers. Glancing up at him, she almost slapped the triumphant look off his face. "It appears you are learning fast."

"I didn't get this job because I was the prettiest one at the SGC. Had you shown up sooner, it would have been Dr. Jackson who got that title." Sighing, Paul reset the board for a new game. "From what little I met of him, he was an okay guy. Very prissy at times, but nice."

"Prissy?"

"High maintenance, full of himself. He was pretty sure of himself, but then again, he was always right. Colonel O'Neill just hates that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Martouf drew the scythe back across his stomach, cutting the stalks of wheat he held in his other arm. The stalks fell limp in his arm. Standing, he carried them towards the pile and deposited them on the growing bundle. The stalks would be mixed with mud and baked to create bricks. Tying the bundle, he set them standing so the heads were up.

He stood up and rubbed at his back as it protested the movement. Holding a hand over his eyes, he surveyed the vast fields of the Abydos crops. The wet season had come with a violent storm last night and today they had to pull in the crops if they were going to survive the flooding. Like him, there were hundreds of Abydoneans in the field cutting the wheat, flax, beans, and dozens of other crops.

The brilliant sun shown down as it climbed in the sky. Soon they would stop until the evening because of the intense heat. Before then, though, the carts drawn by the Schads would come this way and carry away the sheaths. The women would beat the wheat with flails until it was loosened from the stalks. It was all a pattern that was very familiar to him.

Martouf had spent the last three months helping these people, learning of the, from them. He knew almost every one of them by name and face, but not the one he had come to learn about. They never spoke of his Jolinar's host in his presence. His questions went unanswered with a polite, yet condescending smile.

Sighing, he decided that perhaps after the harvest was complete, he would return to his people. This entire mission was pointless. The Abydoneans didn't want to enlighten him and he wasn't about to go to the Tau'ri.

His ruminations were interrupted as a shadow passed over the sun. He recognized the glint of the sun off the surface that it was indeed a Ha'tak class mother ship. Clenching his hand around the scythe, he tracked the ship until it landed on the pyramid which housed the gate. Apparently someone had become victorious enough to claim this part of Ra's disputed territory.

"Koshac kree." Bending down, he went back to work. Whoever this was, it would become apparent soon enough when the Jaffa would come among the people and demand their worship. He would keep his head low and an eye out to try and infiltrate the army when necessary. Until then, he had work to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Activating the wheel chair, Saroush powered up the speed control to her usual preference. She lowered her goggles over her eyes and tied the scarf around her neck. Gloves in place, she placed hands down on the controls and gripped the rests. "T minus six, five, four, three, two... Ignition!"

The wheel chair shot down the empty corridor, rocketing around the round corners. Cackling madly, she adjusted the control to avoid a collision with a laundry cart on the right side. As she passed it, too late she noticed the person standing down the corridor and hit him with the front grate.

Ferretti crashed like a sack of cement in the laundry cart. Feet hanging over the edge, he laid back dazed and confused. "What the hell just happened?" The whirring of a small motor drew his attention. "Hello?"

Standing up shakily from her wheel chair, Saroush grabbed on to the edge of the cart and looked down in to it. "Major, are you unhurt?"

"I think so. What the fuck just happened?" Rubbing at his rear, he dragged his legs in the cart. He rolled in to a sitting position and glanced about the corridor. "Did something hit me?"

Nodding, Saroush gave a grim smile. "I am afraid that was me. I did not think anyone would be on this level this early. The mornings on Level 1 are usually spent to myself."

"Yeah, well, I kinda need to clear my head. I thought walking around these deserted halls was a good idea." Frowning as he climbed out of the cart, he stretched out the sudden cramp. "So much for that idea."

"No, it was a good idea, just not practical in its application I am afraid. Not especially with an old maniac like myself flying down these corridors, or so General Hammond has said." Chuckling, she sat back in her wheel chair and pulled it back so Ferretti could stand. Her chair made a beeping sound and she glanced down at the controls. "The timer on the little digital clock the soon to be Major Carter has attached to this transport informs me that I am behind schedule. I was heading for the elevators, do you need a lift?"

"Where would I sit..." He trailed off as the back of her chair lowered down a reverse facing seat complete with buckles and safety harness. "Let me guess, Major Carter?"

"Correct." She lowered the speed by two clicks, enough to compensate for the drag and extra weight. "Strap yourself in and hold on, this is going to be a bumpy ride."

Holding back for a moment, Ferretti thought about it. Flying down the corridors with a half mad Tok'ra at the controls or limping back to the elevator and being late. Not much of a choice. "To hell with it, you only live once." Climbing on the back, he ran the waist buckle over his body and strapped it down. Grabbing the cockpit harness, he tightened the buckles in to place. Glancing down, he noticed something hanging underneath the seat. "Hey, what's this thing?"

"A gun mount."

"Gun mount? What would you need that fo..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Janet tightened the acewrap around Ferretti's leg, giving him the evil eye. "How did this happen again?"

Rubbing at his wind whipped hair, Lou shook his head. "That crazy old bat ran me over this morning coming around those corners like a bat out of hell. She's dangerous with that thing Sam made her. Someone ought to have a talk with the General, telling him just what the hell she is designing in that laboratory of hers." Grabbing Janet's hand from his leg when she tried to make him lift it, he glared at her. "Don't that hurts! Did you know she has a gun mount on the back of that damned chair?"

"Of course it hurts. If you were more careful, this wouldn't have happened. And don't say she blind sided you, I seriously doubt the chair can reach that kind of speed." Taking back her hand, she slid it up under his knee. Grabbing his ankle with the other, she forced him to stretch the sore appendage despite his protests.

"Damn that hurts!" Ferretti hissed as she flexed his leg three more times. "And yes, it can. Sam cannibalized a damaged FRED to get it. Eight tires with a multi-terrane function, it sure in hell can pick up speeds of almost thirty miles per hour."

"Okay, so you were road kill. What were you doing up there this morning anyways? I thought we had plans to meet for breakfast before the briefing for P3X-219." Setting his leg down, she was satisfied it wasn't damaged beyond sore muscles. "You will have to take it easy, that means no mission for three days."

"I hadn't plan on going anyways." Sighing, he thought it might be best he tell her. "I am considering asking for a temporary leave of absence like that quack shrink of yours suggested. Since we've finally got the security measures in place and the new weapons are coming along, I figured SG-2 could stand down for a few weeks. What say you? The four of us on a little time off?"

"What are you talking about? Who else would we be taking along." At his pointing finger, she placed a hand to her stomach. "Oh." Backing up a step, she adjusted her coat around the slight bulge. Even without it, her uniform covered the showing pregnancy. "When did you find out?"

"It just came to me last night. I placed my hand over your stomach and thought, 'I wonder if it is a boy or girl?' Finally came to me why Cassie has been so excited these past couple weeks. She about squealed my ears off when I asked her this morning." Taking her hand in his, he pulled her close enough to embrace. "What say you, mommy? You wanna take the little ones and go on a small vacation? We've been constantly working for too long."

Catching her breath, Janet frowned at him. Glancing about the infirmary, she nodded. "I'll see about it first thing after the briefing this morning."

"Good. I have the perfect place for us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Jolinar." Nirrti glanced to her son from the corner of her eye. Gesturing at the stream of data flowing over the holo graphic device in front of them, she sneered in disgust. "What is the meaning of this?"

"This is a report from Raja Kuhle. Apparently the planet of Nekbhet is no longer." Smiling in amusement, Daniel waved the page turner over the device. The image wavered and the symbols changed. "He goes on to state that it was not his fault. There is nothing left of our forces that had inhabited the planet nor any of its thirteen moons. Even the station we had in orbit was destroyed." Turning back to his mother, hands behind his back, Daniel smiled. "Apparently he is worried we will kill him for this news."

"As well he should be." Tapping her fingers against her side, she considered the information. Waving a hand over the image, she balled her fist and smashed the device. Her hair flew behind her as she set out from the council chamber down the hall to the Court. "You will meet with my Generals. Assign those you believe are trust worthy to my guard. Take the rest and the fleet. I want the border secured before my next brood is ready for Jaffa!"

Inclining his head, Daniel followed along side her. "Am I to engage the enemy should I happen upon them?"

"No." Snorting, she raised her head as they passed through a crowd of courtiers. "Burn them from the skies!"

Daniel paused as she grabbed the closest man. "What am I to tell Raja Kuhle?" Watching her maul the man as he sank to his knees in front of her was not his idea of a good time. However, the way her coutiers stared in shock was.

Stripping off her blouse, she smiled down upon the soon to be sire of her next brood. "Tell him I am most displeased."

"As you wish." Bowing his head again, Daniel backed from the room. Closing the doors, he locked them in place. He smiled patronizingly at them. "Oh goody, more brothers and sisters."

At the edge of the room, three figures watched the sexual acts of their queen and nodded to each other. The time was near.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirens blared in Stargate Command as the gate opened. Sargent Davis ran a check over the screen and nodded to General Hammond. "Sir, it is SG-9's IDC."

"Open the iris!" Bending down, he waited at the microphone for the team to come back through. When all four men came through the gate and it shut down, he pressed the talk button. "Welcome home, SG-9. Why are you so early?"

Taking off his helmet, Major Kovacek frowned. Glancing at his soot covered team, he shook his head. "Sir, there was nothing there. The entire planet has been burned to the ground."

"What the hell happened? I thought your report said there were signs of an advanced civilization." Hammond felt a chill grip his heart at the serious expressions on his people's faces.

"Sir, the Taldur were an advanced race, more so than us." Captain Marsh started down the gate for the doors. "The goa'uld, sir. We found the marker just as we came through the gate. Apparently our first contact with them was the last. Now we'll never know what happened to SG-5."

"Understood. Get cleaned up and report to the briefing room. Dismissed." Letting go of the button, George stood up. He hated this part. Running a hand over his face, he made the long march to his office. Four of his people gone, probably to their deaths. God, sometimes he hated this job.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Martouf laid the flail down, rubbing at this browe to remove the dirt and sweat that had caked there while he beat the wheat stalks. The thrashers had been working in tripple shifts for the past two days, trying to get the harvest done before the local Goa'uld decided to take his tarif. Nothing had been seen from the goa'uld yet, but it was only a matter of time.

Two days ago he had tried looking around, but the inner doors to the pyramid had been shut, effectively locking out the gate and any way off the planet. He only hoped that no one tried gating through without sending a probe through first. The last thing any of his people needed were to be caught by the System Lords.

While outside the tent city they were using as temporary bases before going home after their five week work interval, he would always keep one eye on the pyramid ship. Today was no different and like every day for the past week, nothing was happening. It was like they had landed the ship, locked it up, and then took off through the gate. Like they were leaving it here for safe keeping.

His time would just have to be here that much longer. Just in case they weren't really gone, but biding their time. Seeing the foreman giving him a dark eye over his own flail, Martouf smiled. He picked up his own tool and began beating the wheat again.

The Abydonean sun beat down on them and burned all who it touched. Very soon he might be as dark as the locals with some help of Lantash. Speaking of the lazy serpint, Martouf tried once again rousing the slumbering other self. Lantash had been dormant almost since they had come here, prefering to let Martouf make his own mistakes.

At first he had felt crippled without the constant presence of his other self. Then over time, he had grown to accept the almost silence of it all. Lantash was grieving his loss, much more than Martouf. They both had given in to the fact that Rosha was gone forever. Some how he had taken it better than Lantash. Despite them being as one, the older's feelings seemed to run deeper.

Now Lantash spent most of his existance providing only the minimal of assistance and imput, prefering to wallow in his dreams and memories. The moment he could get back to the others, Martouf decided he would have someone examine his other self. Perhaps together then they could over come his grief.

In the mean time, the dark eyed Abydonean was once again staring at him. He might have to break his vow to Jolinar and sleep with the man just to get him to shut up about lazy foreigners. It wouldn't be too much of an imposition, he was attractive for a desert dwelling rat. Smiling at him, Martouf began using the flail once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the ten thousandth time, Paul Davis wondered just what the hell he thought he was doing. They were on a cargo vessel in the middle of some god knew where asteroid belt waiting for a contact. They being: himself; the insufferable Ibera/Gert who fancied himself an expert on Earth culture, but came across more like an ignorant tourist from New York; Resain/Loana, a woman who claimed ancestry all the way back to Ra himself, and spouted off about it repeatedly; and finally, the only one he could stand, Garshaw of Belote.

"Okay, let's say I am an infernalist. Just what are you doing here, again?" Adjusting his posture so he could kick his feet up on the unlit controls, he smiled at Garshaw. "You are the most hunted of your people, and yet you are running a routine fact finding mission, why?"

"This is hardly routine, Paul." She grimaced. Even after three and a half months, she still found using his first name distasteful. It just felt too familiar for someone so strange that he still surprised her daily. "We are here to meet a Tok'ra contact that has urgent information we desperately need. Since the loss of any operative even attempting to infiltrait a System Lord's numbers recently, we have been desperate to keep our people in the places they have already attained without exposing them."

"I understand that. We have long term undercover operations on Earth that are very precarious." Lacing his fingers over his head, he stared out through the main visual barrier. "Things get pretty deadly when a new regime comes in to power or civil unrest drives the people to witch hunts. Any one not fitting in is a target. That's why you try to anticipate the problems and get your spy network set up before."

Stressed, she clenched her hands around the control orb. "Exactly. Only, we did not anticipate this soon enough and few of our people were in any position of importance. Only this operative and three others are and it is very damaging to our organization. If it weren't for our technology, we would be as you put it, damned useless as allies."

"Now don't quote me out of context, I was refering to Earth in relation to you. And it wasn't technology so much as information on planets and human resources, if you catch my meaning." Laughing at his own bad joke, he sighed. Times like this would serve him well during those long boring meetings he would have to attend when his tenior was up in three months.

"Yes, Major, I am well aware of your prediliction for inappropriate humor." Smiling tightly, she adjusted the position of the ship to avoid a slowly tilting asteroid. It would have hit the ship, eventually, say in about a hundred years. "It would seem we were the ones more dependant upon you this time."

"It comes and it goes. Perhaps what this operative guy of yours has something really juicy to say only your people can handle and they we will be the ones again to have to drag our asses from the fire." At her grimace, he snorted. "Or may be not."

"It is not that I would not enjoy a reversal of our fortunes, but that the price we must pay in that event would be very great." They sat in silence for a while more, neither of them moving but to twitch from nervous energy and boredom. At times she would let herself observe his muscled form and yearn to touch him. However, it would prove futile, she had seen the way he watched her brothers. Sighing, she turned her attention back to the controls.

A flashing light caught her eye and she tapped the control sphere. "There is a Ha'tak fast approaching our position. They are apparently chasing a smaller vessel." She scanned the read out. Her eyes flared in anger. "They are attempting to fire upon the Tel'tac! Our operative is on board that ship!"

Paul, who had sat up and taken the pilot's controls, activated the drive. "Manuevering us closer!"

"Get us between them and the Ha'tak. I am telling them to ready the transport rings." After relaying the commands, she stood up from her controls and headed for the panel at the room's entrance. Once there, she began pressing the crystal keys in the proper sequence. The doors opened and the cargo bay lights came on. "How long until we are within range?"

"Thirty-seconds. Hold on!" The ship shook from an impact. "Sorry about that, but I think the Goa'uld might know we are out here, cloak or not."

"How is that possible? They are unaware this technology even exists!" Josef held on to the wall as the ship rocked again. Her eyes flashed white as Garshaw took control again. "Keep the damned ship steady!"

"Sorry, but some how they can sense we are here!" He manuevered the ship between the tel'tac and the Ha'tak. However, his efforts were too late. "The Tel'tac has taken too many hits, their engines are about to explode. If they are going to ring over, it has to be now!"

"Activating rings!" Garshaw pressed the control button and held on for dear life as another blast rocked the ship. As the rings rose up from the floor, a power surge ran through them. Two figures reintegrated inside before collapsing. She hit the button to turn off the rings. "Get us the hell out of here!"

"On it!" Racing his fingers over the control sphere, he activated the hyper drive. The ship decloaked long enough to form the jump window. "We're going through!" As he punched the engines in to full gear, another blast rocked the ship and they hit the window faster than the drive anticipated. Paul desperately ran his hands over the controls, trying to in vain to get them working. "We're out of control. The hyperdrive isn't responding. I am trying to switch to manuel, but I can't control the slip stream!"

Panick finally set in the ancient Tok'ra and she threw herself towards the control chairs. "Shut it down!"

"I can't! That last hit destroyed the pathways, we're going faster than we should be, and I have no idea where we'll end up." Watching through the viewport, Paul stared in wide eyed shock as the ship's outer hull seemed to waver. "I think we have another problem."

After taking her seat, Garshaw took command of the controls. "The cloak is activating in Hyperspace, this should be impossible."

"Don't tell me about it, I can see it happening." The ship shook again as the controls exploded. Paul screamed in pain from the rain of fire and sparks. Dully, through the pain, he heard the ship groan as the engines accelerated. As the world whited out in a buzzing hiss, he saw the Tok'ra agents enter the control room.

Then nothing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Major, it has only been three weeks since you returned to duty and two days since your official promotion. I find it highly suspect that you are finished with these weapons when we could not even get a workable model done in three months." Glaring at the pale Major Carter, his lips tightened in to a scowl. Leaning forward in his desk chair, he tried to be more fatherly agressive. "I thought I had ordered you to take it slowly."

Smiling sheepishly, Sam looked down to try and compose herself against the ache in her arms. She had been working too hard today assembling the power cell for the new Staff Weapon and it had strained her burns. At least she was now fairly certain it would work.

When she hadn't responded, General Hammond's glare intensified. After a few minutes, he shifted back in his chair and took a clearing breath. "All right then. You have my permission to go through the gate only long enough to test this new power cell, then you are to come straight back here. No if, ands, buts, or emergencies will be tolerated. Get your ass back here, pronto. Is that understood?"

Standing up, Sam smiled at him. "Yes, sir, I promise to make this work and be back in time for your coffee break."

"By your own estimates, this should take no more than thirty minutes, you have exactly thirty minutes. My established break is still two hours away." Giving her a wary glance, he nodded towards his door. "Get out of here before I change my mind."

She saluted before turning on heel and rushing from the room. Sam couldn't help it, she felt giddy for the first time in four months. To be doing something useful again and to go off world so she could participate was the best experience in her life at the moment. Those other situations that made her life seem to slowly drift away piece by piece were pushed aside so she could revel in this.

Who cared that her father was dying? Who cared that she was one person shy of a family? Who cared if Mark refused to believe her about their father? Who cared that the SGC was turning in to a weapons depot for the US government and their shady dealings?

Really? Who cared?

Not her. That's for sure!

Sighing, she slowed down to lean against the wall. Lowering her head, she fought back the overwelming sense of loss again. Her breathing hitched, she forced her body to stop shaking. She wasn't going to cry!

There were times like this when she just needed a little break from it. She was pushing herself too hard, it was just a little too much stress for her. She could deal with. Or so she kept telling herself.

After a few minutes, she composed herself to wipe the tears that weren't in her eyes. To clear the clog that wasn't in her throat was a little harder. Banishing the not shaking from her frame was the last sign she had not been losing it. Finally clearing her head, she stood away from the wall and continued on down the hall.

Behind her, Jack watched from the corner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Pel'tac, Daniel surveyed the debris field that had once been a planet. His eyes flared in anger at the haughty snort of the Goa'uld behind him. The incompetence of the Raja behind him was evident in the arogance he effected the moment Daniel had arrived at the border planet. He had been posturing ever since and Daniel had had enough of it.

"Do you see for yourself? We had nothing to do with this! Now slink back to your master and tell her my fleets are ready for the next attack." Raja Kuhle twisted the band of pearls hanging from his mustache. His black eyes dimissed the man he considered a child and turned to face the men he considered the real threat. If the Generals of Nirrti's fleets decided he had failed, not even his status as a Raja among her people would be enough to stop the uprising.

It was almost with pleasure Daniel drove his dagger in the back of the goa'uld's neck. Twisting the handle, he severed the parasite's body. After removing the blade, he let the body drop to the ground. Daniel turned his attention on the Raja's own generals. "Take him to the sarcophagus, I want him revived then interogated until you are sure you have every useful bit of information. Once you are through, have his head adorned with jasmine garland and sent to my mother. Koshek, Kree!"

"Kree!" The supreme general nodded and gestured for his guards to grab the body. As Kuhle's body was dragged away, he stood fast and stared hard at Jolinar. "What do you wish of us?"

Smiling slowly, Daniel trailed a hand down the side of the control platform. He circled the platform, glancing up twice to the generals. "I... have no use for you." When they tensed, he only smiled again. "However, Nirrti has expressed the desire that we use all resources at our disposal in securing the border."

"My lord, the border is secured!" General Kulang was the next to find himself with a knife in the back of his throat, curtosy of a Jaffa. As his body hit the floor, Daniel raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Anyone else wish to lie to me?" All traces of levity fled his face in the sudden rage. Eyes glowing and voice growling deep, he launched himself on to the control console. "The border is not secure! You have failed!" He gestured wildly at the view ports. "There is my proof of your incompetence! Two million subjects, slaves, and Jaffa gone, not a single trace of who is responcible! This is not the sign of an ever vigilant army!"

Slidding off, he stormed around the console as the generals retreated back from him. "If I did not need your presence to command the loyalty of your Jaffa, I would have executed every one of you! E'sh Ut, Kree! Goa'uld, Kree!"

Three Jaffa to every General stepped forward and grabbed the men. Each one struggled very little as Daniel came to stand in front of them.

Eyes wide in madness, Daniel squeezed his hand in to a fist. His bronzed locks fell from the head scarf giving him a crazed appearance. "You have failed me. But in recognition of your years of loyal service, I have decided to reward you. My brothers are in need of hosts, you will become gods. Take them away."

They cried out to a man as they were dragged from the room. The last of them screamed and pleaded with Jolinar to let him prove his loyalty.

Daniel ignored his cries, choosing to focus on the Generals before him. At their amused stares, Daniel righted his hair and blinked his eyes clear. "That was far more satisfying than it should have been."

"My lord, Jolinar, I have never questioned your reasoning until now." General Kumahl stepped forward, hands raised in questioning fashion. He gestured over his shoulder towards the doors. "If word of this spreads, they will believe you completely insane."

"All the world fears a madman, all the world respects a madman with power." Removing his turban, Daniel let the cloth slip from his fingers to the deck below. He shook the now permanent curls, formed from the braids, until they were arrayed out of his face. "I would rather have them fear me, what I might do, than the death their enemies might bring. If that death is preferable to failing me, then I have succeeded."

"Ah, I see." Kumahl blinked in surprise before following Jolinar towards the view port. His own braids hung tied towards the back, held in place by gold threads woven in the locks. He nervously tongued the golden hoop in his lip. "What are we going to do that was not already being accomplished? Their patrols were dependant upon this system for securing the border. We have reviewed the tactical information, there is no evidence we could have anticipated something on this scale of happening. They didn't even try to annex the system!"

Eyeing the stars, Daniel felt his ire rise. "They have lost their fear. Having nothing to worry about has cost us our edge, that which made us gods in the first place. We have grown lapse in our judgement, our belief in our superiority making us bloated with pride. When even the destruction of an entire world can go unnoticed, it is time for the thing to die and a new to take its place."

Turning to face the generals and his fellow Goa'uld, Daniel cleared his mind of all emotions. The time for action had come. "This world is the closest to the border of Cronus' territory. Since only the System Lords have the ability to destroy a planet and we can assume Nirrti has not done so, there is only one other option. Ready our forces, alert the entire empire. Cronus has played his final game." Closing on the console, he smiled. "Tell my mother we move on Cronus."

As the Generals, Jaffa, and Goa'uld moved about to begin preperations, Malek came from the crowd to stand beside Daniel. His usual black uniform was replaced by a white replica. Clearing his throat, he waited for Jolinar to acknowledge him. When his fellow operative didn't even so much as twitch, he tapped him on the back. "I lost him."

Daniel's jaw clenched in anger. Hands curling up in to fists, he clutched the control crystals. "Did you destroy the tel'tac at least?"

"Yes. If they wish to replicate the modifications, it will take them quite some time based upon his sketchy knowledge." He knew it was very little comfort to Jolinar, but it was the best he could offer considering the circumstances. "We should never have included him in the last mission. I warned you it was too risky. He would never have understood."

"He is too loyal to their cause, blah blah blah!" Shifting to face the angered Tok'ra, Daniel raised his hand to grab him by the throat. He pulled Malek close until they were nose to nose. "If the drugs I infected him with do not keep him silent until it is too late, I will feed your symbiot to Nirrti's pets." With a sudden twist, he crushed their lips together and then pushed the struggling Tok'ra away. "Take your ship in to Enkart, gather as many Jaffa, death gliders, and supplies as you can, then bring them back here. In two days time, we invade Cronus' territory and we aren't stopping until every last member of his court is dead!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drums continued to echo in the evening celebrating the end of a successful harvest. The graineries were full enough for three years, cotton was being stringed and readied to be spun for threads. Fruit was dried and stored in earthen wear jars, sealed with wax. Salt dippers that had been dried out after being filled, hung in store houses with animal pelts and dried meats.

Candles and oils were being made by the women along with precious herbs, spices, and incense. They closely watched their children during their tasks. By week's end, there would be enough of each to last for the year plus more. Each was nothing if not efficient.

It was in this world that Martouf felt at peace.

It was in this world that Sha're felt apart from it all. The loneliness of it all struck her harder with each once familiar action. She knew about things that no one in her opinion should ever have known. The demon that had inhabited her body had stolen everything from her. Even the peace she once found in the process of bathing was a night mare of memories.

This shamed her that even in the extreme heats she wore clothe enough to hide her body. She had been defiled by the demon, had almost bore it a son. That thought alone made her wish they had let her die in the crystal catacombs. To bare the child of a man not her husband was disgraceful and it tore at her until she felt little more than tattered strips in the desert wind.

Clutching her stomach, she balled her hand in a fist and slammed it down on the pile of cotton beside her. The women's chatter silenced. Ignoring their concerned faces, she picked up another bundle of cotton fibers and stripped it. The ends came out easily enough and she fed it in to the cord she was twisting on the drop spindle.

The repetitive motions forced her body to remember the long since learned actions of the weaving. Her fingers deftly seperated the threads, wrapping them in to a single string, using the dropper to tighten the line. Each finished line was strong enough to hold a Schad beast in place. Together, in a woven cloth it would be enough to withstand a sand storm.

This was the learning she had been taught by her mother. This was the lesson she would one day pass on to her daughters. This would never come to pass because every time she thought of being with a man, the face of her defiler as he forced himself upon her would fill her memory.

She dropped the weight stone.

Again silence filled the room.

Rubbing at her face, Sha're stood up from her work. There would be someone to take her place and the women could finish before the sun was completely gone. Day light was fast becoming a precious comodity as the cold bite of winter set over the desert planet. There would be no snow here, but the frost would come during the nights to those who were unwary.

Days still burned hot, but the freezing winds put an end to whatever peace people might have derived from it. Climbing out from behind the curtain and in to the evening air, Sha're blew on her hands to keep them warm. Already it was near freezing.

As she passed the well, she noticed the breaker had been tied on to the end of the well dipper. It would be used to drop down in the well and break the ice as it froze over the water inside. The narrow streets of the back homes and shops made it harder to transports the goods, but it kept the freezing winds to a minimum. Her people were continuing on like they had for thousands of years, years she could remember, cursed to her by the demon.

Shivering, she pulled her cloak of Schad fur tighter around her body. It would be another long night. Slowly, she made her way towards the men in their revelry camps. They were cooking the food since the women were weaving. Along with cooking the food, they were preparing the hides, and cleaning their tools and weapons.

Tonight would be the first of the harvest festival. Time for young women who were unmarried to pick a mate. Time for young men who were unmarried to accept. Her brother would be the right age this year.... if he wasn't still in the clutches of his own demon.

She forced herself not to think of it as she came to the edge of the camp. As always, she sensed the presence of the blue eyed stranger long before she saw him. After several weeks, she had grown accostumed to his presence. Despite the fact, it still unnerved her that she could feel him. It was much the same way with the Chappa'ai, she could feel it when she was close.

A part of her mind knew what it meant, but that was from the demon. That knowledge she tried whole heartedly to block and was, for the most part, successful. Closing her eyes, she focused on the presence. He was behind her. Turning quickly, she opened her eyes and saw him coming around the corner with several of her people.

Martouf carried with him the flail given to him by Hukamun, a fellow man who had come to Kasuf's tribe seeking refuge. The difference being Hukamun was a native Abydonean. His clothes were tattered from the work and would need great repairs if he were to wear them again. The back of his shirt was split clean to the waist from Lantash increasing his strength.

Stopping at the water jars, he caught his appearance in the jug and sighed. His slightly long hair was wavey from the winds. There was beard growth since he hadn't shaved in two days. Even his skin looked roughed from the harsh weather. Jolinar would have teased him for it, he was sure, for he was usually so meticulous.

Grabbing the water dipper, he pulled out enough to fill his bowl and dropped it back in the jar. He drank half the bowl before turning for the camp fires. Hukamun had promised to save him a seat at the fire. Thinking of Hukamun made him glance down at the tool. The fingers would have to be restrung and a few bars replaced. He had quite literally wore the thing out.

It wasn't until he had bumped in to her that he realized there was another presence. Despite being months without his brothers and sisters, the sense of another symbiot was second nature to him. He smiled at Sha're and held out his hand to stop her from toppling over. "Forgive me, I was not paying attention."

Sha're glanced down at the hand upon her waist. It was not unheard of for a man to touch a woman in such a familiar way when strangers. However, that was not what bothered her, or lack there of. The touch of anyman, including her father, for months had been repulsive. The stranger's hand only seemed to be just that, a hand. Staring up at his face again, she inclined her head. "Sha're."

"I know." Stepping back, Martouf inclined his head and stepped around her. After a half step, he paused. She had spoken to him. To him. Turning around, he faced her again. "My name is Martouf."

"You do not repulse me." At her own words, Sha're smiled. Taking his hand, she placed it on her arm. "This does not repulse me. You are only you."

"What else would I be?" Martouf's confusion was clearly spelled out in his expression.

"You are a man who does not repulse me," she said with clear meaning in her voice.

Enlightenment dawned on him and he promptly dropped the flail. "I can not."

"Give me what I ask and I will answer your questions." Grabbing his hand in her own, she dragged him reluctantly back towards the tents. "A trade, and you will know all you have been seeking." Despite the chill, she began removing the cloth from around her neck. As the curtain dropped behind him, Sha're felt fear for the first time. Pushing it aside like everything else, she undid the hem on her cloak and let it pool on the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yes," Sam cried out in near extasy as the weapon in her hand fired exactly as hoped. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Shaking her head to fluff up the hair, she sat back from the hurdle. The test firing was the first time today that it had gone perfectly. Her modifications to the powercell, the focusing mechanism, even the trigger grip was all in perfect working order.

Looking down at the weapon, she smiled brilliantly. It was shaped like the hilt of a fancy sword, a grip in the center with two coils around the fist. The S shaped pommel curved from over the top of the fist to under the hand. On the other side, it was marked with six pyramid shapes in a long stripe going from top to bottom. All in all it was the size of a boxing glove and weighed less than a five pound barbell.

Sheer perfection in her opinion. If the next testing proved there was no damage to the super structure or the power relays after the heavy work out she had just put it through, she would sign off on it and hand in the patent for approval. Smiling at it, she kissed the pommel covering.

"Oh, geeze, Carter, would you two get a room?" Jack, smiling good naturedly, came up to stand beside her. Uncrossing his arms, he clapped her on the shoulder. "Looks like you really nailed the last ten targets."

"Jack, there are only ten targets." At his look, she snorted. "Very funny, sir. With the trigger design on this, you have to be deliberately thinking about it to fire in the multi-blast mode. See, there is a four finger grip on the handle, you have to hold down the top two and the pinky grip to fire rabid burst. Holding down all four will simply turn the weapon off to prevent someone from firing it accidently."

Jack examined the gun metal gray weapon and frowned. "Looks like it is missing something."

Smiling, she bent down to reach inside the case that was beside her. Rear out towards him, it occured to her the position she was in.

He couldn't resist. "Carter! I am your CO!"

"Oh, ha ha, sir." Grabbing the barrel out of the case, she pressed the long attachment over the row of pyramids. When it clicked, she let go and held it up for him to see. It was vaugely sword shaped that tapered in to a point after two feet. "Stand back, sir."

"Does this mean you were going to..." He jumped back when she held up the weapon and pulled the trigger. The small sonic boom was punctuated with the explosion of a target dummy a hundred yards away. Most of the dummy was vaporized on impact, much to his mouth drying surprise. "That's uh.... impressive, Carter."

"Thank you. But that's only level one." Clicking up the settings on the power pack, she turned it to full blast. "It is now at full power. I haven't tried this yet, but it should be a pretty spectacular explosion!"

Seeing the coils on the sides of the pommel light up, Jack covered his ears and dropped to the ground. "Oh shit!"

Grinning like a maniac Sam aimed at a large tank target and squeezed the trigger on the sword shaped weapon. The sudden boom threw her backwards ten feet. As she landed, dirt and debris came crashing down on top of her and Jack.

Gasping, she sat up, still smirking. She had to remove the soot covered safety goggles to see the damage she had wrought. Upon first glance, she was frozen in to shock. Slowly a smile spread across her face.

Ears still ringing, Jack sat up and poked at them to help clear them out. "Carter, what the hell was that?" When she didn't answer, he glanced back to stare her. "Carter?"

"Cool." Not being able to hear her own voice really should have worried her. But the sight of the big fucking crater in the middle of their shooting range just seemed more important at the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Janet glared down at the clipboard the nurse had just handed her. She had been in the middle of giving Saroush another check up to see if there was anything she could do to ease the old woman's back pain. The crash this morning had pretty much put an end to her racing days. "Tell them I will be with them in a moment." Handing back the clipboard, she focused again on the Tok'ra. "Haven't I warned you about this? Are you happy? You will be stuck in this cast for three weeks, even with the symbiot's help."

Saroush sighed from frustration. Inside she could feel Sel'mac's amusement and shared it, but she still was upset about this. So it had been her idea to ignore the posted speed limit on the county road with her chair, what did that matter? It wasn't her that had jumped across the road like a Totnon Hare with a jackal on its tail. It didn't matter that the deer was little more than a grease stain, her chair had been completely destroyed!

Seeing that her patient was more focused on her loss than her own health, Janet growled in anger. Two more days until her vacation and she could get away from this mad house. Two more days, she told herself. Marshalling the fortitude to deal with what was in the next room, she patted Saroush on the hand. "Give the pain killer time to kick in, tell Sel'mac to stop fighting it and you will be blissed out quick as a light." Not waiting for a reply from the angry woman, she nodded to Dr. Smith. "Take care of her."

"Yes, sir." Smith smiled at Saroush checked her vitals. Behind him he could feel a constant gadfly that had been buzzing about the infirmary for the past two hours since Saroush had been brought in. Glancing over his shoulder, he smiled at the Lieutenant. "Mr. Simmons, don't you have work to do?"

Graham ducked his head and nodded. Moving for the door he collided with Janet. "Sorry, sir!"

"God damn it!" Catching herself on a passing nurse, Janet growled in anger. "Lieutenant, get out of my infirmary! If I catch you here again, I will make it so that you'll be here as a patient!" Turning on heel, Janet walked down across the room towards the exit and in to chaos.

Colonel O'Niell and Major Carter were laughing so hard they had to be held up by the orderlies behind them. As if they could sense her disapproval, both went stone silent and turned to face Janet. Jack was the first to speak. "We're deaf," he shouted.

"Can't hear a thing!" Carter tapped her ears, snapped her fingers in front of them and shook her head. Clutching her side again, she started to giggle. "But that was one hell of an explosion!"

Taking one look at their eyes and the symptoms, she grabbed the nearest orderly. "Get them sedated immeadietly! Set up a constant watch to wake them every hour on the hour. I want these damned two watched constantly and kept away from anything that could even possibly make an explosion!"

"Yes, sir." The orderly in charge of the group signaled for the pair to be seperated and taken to different rooms.

Giving them a tired glance, Janet headed for her office. This was something Doc Warner could handle. She was too close to the end of her shift to deal with them two. Some times she wondered if it was an infirmary or a damned daycare she ran around here. Scraped knees, broken arms, bug bites, and now a god damned pair of fools!

She kicked the door to her office open, breaking the handle, from her anger. The heel on her shoe was also a casualty of the anger fit that was suddenly pressing on her. She realized it was escalating due to her pregnancy hormones, but couldn't give a damn. Grabbing the books off her shelf, she threw them at the glass shelves across the room that held surgical equipment.

By the time someone knocked on her broken door, she was in the middle of a screaming fit. Her chair went flying at the door slamming it shut again. Grabbing the lamp off her desk she tossed it after the chair. Anything in reach went flying towards the door until it was blocked by a pile of broken and battered equipment.

After a pencil holder joined the stack, she collapsed to the floor and held her face. Her body began to shake from minute sobs. Glancing about the carnage in her office, she quickly escelated in to hysterics. There wasn't much more she could take from these hormones.

The door was shoved open with a large heave, tossing aside the build up she had thrown in front of it. Three orderlies and Major Ferretti rushed in to the room, tripping over each other as the door gave. They landed with a loud grunt on top of the smaller man. By the time they had gotten up, Ferretti was seeing black spots.

He shoved their hands off in order to crawl to the stressed out Janet. Upon reaching her, he enveloped her in a large hug and glared at the nurse attempting to get in. "It's okay, Janet, I am here."

Clutching him to her, she ignored his pained sound. "I want out, now. Get me the hell out of here now! Tell the General whatever you want, I don't care, I've had it."

"For how long?"

"I don't want to come back."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Welcome, my son." Kasuf made room by the fire for the Schad skin wrapped Martouf. Sighing past his grief, he smiled at the blue eyed young man who had become his newest child. His Sha're had welcomed him in to her bed and their family last night, it was up to him to make sure that the others accepted this now. Giving the Tok'ra a bowl of broth, he gestured for him to drink up. "You need your strength, today we bring in the Schad for grooming."

A part of Martouf felt like the world around him had shifted. He understood now the full ramifications of what he had done. Married to a woman he hardly knew who only wanted him for a child. The idea of it all made a sick sense. Blinking from the drouziness, he nodded at Kasuf.

Khetmer slapped Martouf on the back, laughing when the Tok'ra nearly fell over. "You are worn from the woman. She is long from the touches of a husband, may be she is too much for you." His words inspired laughter from the group of men. They had been up since the crack of dawn despite the cold. Having spent the night by the fires in their tents, many of them welcomed the change.

Kasuf's eyes narrowed in anger as he shook a hand at Khetmer. "Do not speak of her in such a way, Khetmer!"

"Forgive me, Uncle, I only jest. I have only the greatest respect for my cousin, your daughter. But you can not deny me the rights to tease my new cousin by marriage." Cackling when Kasuf only waved a hand in disgust, Khetmer slapped Martouf again. "You are slight, but we will make a man of you yet."

"I have been a man for far longer than you have been alive." Speaking into his broth, Martouf sipped the hot liquid carefully. He ignored the questioning gaze the others sent him. At Kasuf's grunt, he sighed and put down the bowl. "Among my people, longevity is considered normal. I have seen one hundred and fifteen floodings of the great river."

Gasps of astonisment and whistles rang out.

Kasuf weighed the information and nodded when he came to a conclusion. "You are not of the people, but of the gods."

Martouf shook his head. "We are not gods."

"But you are of those who took my Sha're and eventually her Daniel."

At Kasuf's words, Martouf's eyes flashed and his voice changed to the bass tones of the goa'uld. "I am not a Goa'uld. With every last breath I take I make it my goal to extinguish their light from the universe."

This made up his mind. Kasuf nodded at Martouf. Taking back the bowl, he refilled it before handing it to him once more. "We groom the Schad that we may make a search party to the great pyramid. Our scouts report there has been no movement sense the charriot of the sky landed."

"Most unusual. By now the goa'uld inside should have come seeking your mineral and loyalty." Martouf caught the uneasy glances between the men. He was not fooled by their act, they were waiting for him to declare his intentions. Probably, they had a man with a poison dart near by just in case. Glancing up at Kasuf, he met the man's eyes. "What of the markings on the vessel, is there any writing?"

"None. Where there should be has been stripped away as if exposed to a sand storm." There was hardly a time he did not feel his age, but planning these missions made Kasuf feel young again. The mere thought of battle again had his blood flowing. "Do you intend to come with us or stay with the women and children?"

"I will do as I am needed. If it is your will, I will go." Finishing off the broth, he handed back the bowl. "I have no interest in the weapons of the Goa'uld, they are my enemy."

"The weapons of your enemy are very powerful."

"But they also come with a price I am not willing to pay. Excuse me, honored father, but I must attend my wife."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A chill crept across his skin as Paul awoke. Shivering, he tried to curl up in to a ball, however, a pain in his abdomen made him cry out. He reached down to hold himself but a strong, glove wrapped hand held him back. Opening his eyes, he stared up at Garshaw in question.

Smiling at him, she rubbed a hand through his hair. "Do not try to move, Major, your injuries are still quite severe."

"Wha.... what hap...pened," he bit out with gasping cough.

Sighing, she pressed him back down on the blankets. "Try to relax, the pain will only increase during stress. The Primta has not had time to settle yet." When he only stared at her, she pushed his shoulder with a little more force than before to lay back. "The ship was fired upon, your console exploded and you were injured. Our operatives managed to get them back online, but by then we were long out of charted territory."

"Where?" He gasped again when he felt his gut tense.

"I said it is uncharted. This region of space has been beyond goa'uld territory for a long time, takes too long to reach this world by ship to make any permanent settlement viable." Twisting around, she reached in to a cloth bag and pulled out a bottle. Taking off the cap, she pressed it to his lips. "Drink slowly, you have been unconscious for quite some time and I do not think you can handle too much too soon."

After a few mouthfuls, he nodded he was finished. "Thanks. Where are we?"

"In relation to what," she said, deciding to humor him.

"The ship and the gate. So cold." As if to add credence to his words, he began to shiver again. This movement flared up the wound in his gut again and he cried out.

"Yes, I would imagine so. The ship was damaged in the crash, parts of the hull were exposed. We are in the cargo hold, the least damaged part." Glancing up at the ceiling, she gestured to the dim light fixture. Most of the cargobay was covered in frost giving an errie look in the light. "As for where we are in relation to the gate, four day's travel by foot. The planet is apparently experiencing an ice age and we are caught in the middle of it."

Something off to his side moving made Paul glance. The cloth swaddled figure was almost face to face with him and moving closer. Paul obliged the seeking person by leaning in to the arms. "Who?"

"That is who we were here to retrieve. His name is Aldwin, an operative we had under cover in the ranks of Nirrti. We have been unsuccessful in waking him, it seems he was drugged prior to our mission." She smiled as the duo settled in closer together for warmth. When Paul winced again, she reached in to the bag again beside her and pulled out a palm device.

"What's that for?" He was almost afraid to ask. Paul watched in sick fascination as it activated and a warm yellow light filtered over his stomach. The twitching in his gut slowed, then ceased. Smiling his thanks at her, he started to drift again.

When she thought Paul was asleep, Garshaw shoved down the blanket, unbuttoned the front of his shirt and pants, and pushed open the cloth. She traced her fingers around the brilliant red skin of his pouch and frowned. The tranformation had been quick, but the symbiot should have healed him by now of any infection. With a quick look at his face to make sure he was still asleep, she dipped her fingers in the pouch.

The Primta snapped at her fingers and she withdrew them quickly. Apparently it was just upset. Putting on the healing device, she activated it over the larva and began soothing it again. Without even realizing what she was doing, Garshaw began to hum softly to the larval goa'uld.

Paul watched her through slitted eyes. If it wasn't for the soothing effect of the palm device, he would have been screaming his head off.

He was a god damned Jaffa!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

High Councilor Perseus watched the data feeds their operative in orbit of Baal's border world of Tandare had recorded with apprehension. The normal weapons of a Ha'tak class mother ship had been replaced with multi-shot cannons. On top of that, more of them had been added to change this from a mother ship in to an orbital weapon's platform.

The recording started thirty seconds ago as the ship entered orbit, already the planet was completely devestated. Most of the atmosphere was blocked by dust and smoke from the burning ruins. One ship had turned a border world of thirty-five thousand to ash in a matter of seconds.

It took that time for the orbital mother ships to get in attack position. However, the gun ship turned weapons on them. The first was destroyed in a hail of weapons blasts that came so fast it blocked out view of the ship as it exploded. The remaining two attacked at the same time. The gun ship took a few blasts before it too reduced them to ash.

Much to his relief, as the ship opened a hyperspace window, the ship exploded from the sustained damage. So they weren't indestructable, just heavily armed. The holo image winked out after that leaving the council chamber in the normal ambient light. Perseus stared at the imager for a moment before turning his attention to the operative. "That was most disturbing. Do we know who was behind the attack?"

"That is the strange part, according to the designs, the ship belonged to Nirrti. As you know, three months ago her fleet commander declared open war on Cronus. Since then her forces have been waging a campaign of extermination against his people." Deimos, the operative that had recorded the attack, picked up the imager and replaced it with another one. Waving a hand over it, he activated the device. A system of stars in red, green and blue were clearly outlined against the galaxy. "The red is the territory controled by Cronus, or what used to be."

He pressed a crystal on his wrist device. The larger red territory was slowly swallowed by the Blue, its neighbor. "That has been the progress of Nirrti's forces over the last three months. As she has cleansed the galaxy of Cronus' influence, her forces have become spread extremely thin. Since she refuses to accept any vessel that surrenders, there is little support to continue her campaign."

Pressing another crystal, the green encrouched on the blue. "Two days ago Baal decided to take advantage of her weakened state." He pressed the final control and the Blue swallowed eighty percent of the green. "Two days later Baal is dead and his territory is in the hands of Nirrti's fleet commanders. What you saw was typical of her strategy. Since then, the surrounding system lords have all signed non agression pacts with her."

Whistling, Captain Reynolds raised a hand to get their attention. "On Earth, we call that a Blitz Krieg, a sudden attack without warning, the object of it being to do the most damage in the least amount of time."

"We are aware of such tactics. They are demoralizing and highly efficient among the goa'uld. Very rarely is this pattern of attack used in war between the System Lords, though." Perseus acknowledged the new Tau'ri ambassador with a nod. At Aaron's frown, he elaborated. "The goa'uld are prideful, they want their enemies to know they are being smited. This kind of attack is effective, yet your enemy can never know he was wrong to oppose you if he is dead."

"Ah, gotcha. Sorta a pissing game, I am better than you, so neah." He punctuated his words with a sour face and stuck out tongue. Laughing, he sat back in his chair and smiled at them. "Sorry, sir, I've dealt with people like that all my life. Got six older brothers."

"I understand, I was number six hundred, fourty-three of eight hundred ninety-six. We have perfected the art of sibling rivalry." Turning back to the situation at hand, no words came to him. The situation was worse than they had expected, yet better than they had hoped. The loss of Garshaw, the previous Ambassador, and several operatives on their final mission had hit them all hard. Since then their information net had fallen apart and all operatives recalled, taking with them whatever technology and ships they could aquire.

The war between the System Lords was still brewing, another sixteen worlds had been destroyed. Every time they had settled over the loss of one, another would fall. None as powerful as PTah, but several minor lords had disappeared. The entire System Lord Collective were gearing up for a war and yet no one had come forward to take credit.

Two of the most powerful among the System Lords had fallen in war, another twelve were ready to destroy each other for even the slightest infraction, and one was appearing to subvert her will over them all. The situation was more dire than any he had faced and all he could do was sit around and watch.

Slamming his fist down on the council table, Perseus' eyes glowed in anger. "We must do something about this. If we do not intervene, we could be swept along in the tidal forces of their war."

"I disagree." Aaron sat forward in his chair. Making sure to catch the eyes of the council, he gestured widely. "Look around you, your entire family is located here. Aside from a few hold outs on assignement and the scientists on Earth and our Colonies, you're all conveniently located right here. You let them goldies know you're right here, and you might as well wave a red flag in front of a bull's face. They'll either kill you because you are an enemy or because they think you are behind this. The behive's been kicked, you just gotta make sure them stingers ain't aimed at you."

"What do you suggest we do, hide?"

"That's it exactly. Use them fancy cloaking devices, hide your entire base and orbital sattelites, plus whatever ships you people managed to get your hands on. This ain't no time to be playing at being James Bond, the spy games are over. Wait until they kill each other and then stick your heads up again to see who survived." Taking a deep breath, he blew up on bangs that weren't there anymore. "In the mean while, pick up a hobby, take a vacation, hell, come to Earth and see the old Neighborhood. If you ain't seen it, you got memories of people who have."

Perseus glanced to his fellow Council members. The bitter thoughts of rebellion against the goa'uld were tempting, but he could see the common sense in the man's words. "Very well, we will take this under advisement."

"Good, now don't take too long to book yer vacations, I know just the right spot to...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"..go yet, but it is my time." Saroush shuddered as she fought to contain her coughing fit. Each time it hurt worse and lasted longer. The last three times blood had come up. Her heart felt weaker with each beat and both host and symbiot knew it was only a matter of time before she was gone.

Taking control to spare Saroush as much pain as possible, Selmac blinked at Dr. Warner. "I wish to thank you. These past several months in your care I have come to understand your people, your culture much better than I had ever dreamed. The Tau'ri are a quite remarkable and your advancement has surprised me greatly. Though you have a great deal farther to go, what you lack in development you make up for in ingenuity."

Chuckling, Benjamin Warner patted her arm. "You sound like you are dying. It hasn't gotten that far yet. We still have time to beat this cold."

"Do not lie to me, Doctor, we three know I am dying." She forced the host's lungs to open and the aveaolie to suck in air from the lungs and filter it to the blood. Each time it grew harder for the fluid to be bypassed. In an effort to clear the lungs, Selmac deaded the pain receptors and forced Saroush's body to cough up the flem in to the provided bucket.

Just as Selmac was finishing, the door to the private room opened. "Okay, Saroush, I have that pizza just the way you like it, lotsa cheese and smothered in those nasty mushrooms. You be sure to let me know if Doc Warner comes in and...." Dragging the cart with him, Lieutenant Graham Simmons froze on the spot. He glanced over his shoulder raising a manicured black eyebrow. "Doc?"

"So you are the reason my patient has been having such bad indigestion!" Giving both the old Tok'ra and young Lieutenant a glower, he swatted the lieutenant on the head. "Don't let me ever catch you doing something this stupid again. If she wasn't.... Never again!"

Graham rubbed at his sore head and smiled at Warner. "Sorry Doc, she wanted it and I kinda owed her."

Warner continued to eye them warily before shaking his head. "I don't even want to know what you did to earn that. Hurry up and then get out." Not waiting for a responce, he took the charts with him and closed the door on his way out.

Smiling at Selmac, Graham grabbed a plate of pizza from the cart and set it on the food table next to Selmac. "Here it is." Grabbing his own, he set it on the table too. "In a way I am glad Doc Fraiser is out having a baby, she would have strung me up by the balls. As it is, Walter may do it for her, I am spending most of my time here instead of at my post next to him."

"You are serving your purpose by keeping me company. It isn't everyone who can claim they are best friends with a three hundred year old woman." Taking a bite of the pizza, she murmered in appreciation before grimacing. "That arrogant child may be a pain in the mik'ta, but he might be right about me and pizza. Good thing I do not give a damn what he thinks."

"Good thing." Munching on his own pizza, Graham shared a wink with Selmac.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Staring down at the planet beneath him, Daniel fingered the arms of the throne he sat upon. Aside from abmient lighting, the Pel'tac was dark. None of the controls were lit, even the throne was absent of display lighting. In orbit of Demaci, the last strong hold of Cronus, his victory was all but assured.

The reason he had yet to destroy the planet was not the fear of deadly force. He had fifteen mother ships here with another sixty-two at his call if he wanted. That wasn't including the thousands of Alkesh, Tel'tac, death gliders, and assorted long range tactical vessels. No, it wasn't the lack of fire power either.

It had all been too easy for his taste. Cronus was a System Lord, one of the most powerful since the death of Baal, the defeat of Apophis, and the utter destruction of Ra. To conquer one so feared as Cronus this easily was beyond comtemptable. His rage at the Titan lord only increased at how easily he fell instead of being slaked from the heat of battle.

"Pathetic." Growling, he sat up and moved towards the view port. The protective shielding that allowed him to see out, but keep the air in shimered. It was a hollow victory this day, no vastly superior enemy, no righteous cause, nothing to justify this battle but an empty greed.

It was no wonder the Goa'uld had become so cruel, they found no challenge in life. There were only so many ways to amuse oneself when one could do it all. It was plain boring.

Laying back in his chair, his loose silk pants hung off his legs, revealing more flesh than hiding. He admired the way the golden and silver jewelry that covered his body sparkled in the dim lights. The piercing in his nose and eye brow proved to be especially distracting at times.

It was tempting to just drug away his problems. To give in to that deadly addiction many of his people fell to in times of great stress and revelry was seductive. It made the world feel, opened the mind to sensations they took forgranted. It was very distracting.

It was weakness.

In a fit of rage, he jerked the hoop from his lip and tossed the bloody piece of metal across the room. Smashing the communications control with his fist, he licked away the blood. The sting was real, it was grounding. Made him feel something other than the rage and apathy. "Jaffa, Kree! Go to the planet, bring me Cronus alive. Kill the rest."

"Kree!"

He released the control with some satisfaction. Finally, it was too an end. Many of his Jaffa would probably die today, but he wasn't feeling a very benevolent god today. They could all rot in tartarus for all he cared.

Fingers twittering with the controls, he idly wondered if the Jaffa would be terribly upset if he turned off gravity. May be if he was a little more bored.

Why wait?

He hit the controls and waited for a responce. Grinning, Daniel folded his arms behind his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The warning lights of the SGC flashed announcing an incoming worm hole. A hollow sound echoed in the gateroom shortly before the gate shut down. The airmen who were standing at the ready to attack whoever it was eased their weapons down.

As the doors to the gate room opened, Jack and Sam came through. He glanced up at the control room as she walked up the ramp to the iris.

Running her scanner over the iris, she frowned. "Sir, it was the box we gave the people of Cimmera. I think we should send a probe through and see if they are in trouble."

"Is that necessary, Major?" Hammond sighed at her look. Pressing the microphone control button again, he knew he would regret this. "Isn't the Hammer supposed to protect them?"

"Sir, we destroyed the hammer. It is the beam at the gate's entrance. If the goa'uld were some how able to figure out the hammer isn't functioning, the people wouldn't stand a chance." Jack shared a look with Carter. "Sir, it's our fault, we should deal with it."

"It would be the perfect chance for Teal'c's teams to try out the weapons we've been working on, sir." She turned her attention back to the monitor before turning it off. Replacing the wand back in the control, she faced the control room. "I believe a malp should give us ample recon before we send a team through the gate."

"Meet me in the control room with Teal'c and his team leaders in fifteen minutes and we will discuss a possible mission." Giving them a final once over, he released the control and headed for his office. The necessary paperwork for authorizing a mission was already on his desk thanks to his assistant. Some days he wondered if he even ran this base at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Graham held Saroush as she flailed in her bed, holding her down so she didn't hurt herself during the seizure. He had to climb up on the bed and straddle her hips to hold her down. The alarm had gone off a few moments ago and he pressed the call button, but so far no one had showed up.

A particularly powerful spasm hit and Selmac felt her host arch up off the bed. As the muscles clenched even harder, Saroush slipped beyond her grasp and the body went slack. Panic filled the symbiot as she felt the body shutting down. Her vision started to grow dim.

All Selmac could make out was the worried face of her friend above her. Controling the host, she readied herself. "Come closer."

Having lost his grip on the dying woman, Graham slumped over her body. Sadness filled him at the limp flesh. Lowering his head to the pillow, he blinked back tears. The whispered words had him moving closer. "Saroush?"

"Kiss me." Selmac manipulated the body so that she would appear to be dying instead of dead. "Please, one last one."

Graham fought against the idea of revulsion and nodded. Leaning over to kiss her, he pressed his lips to the cooling ones of his dead friend.

'Thank you, my friend,' was all he heard before the world went silent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wincing, Paul eased himself up in a sitting position. There was little pain, but what was there was still enough to make him think twice about moving fast. Holding a hand over his stomach, he glanced about the room. He was alone in the room and he was grateful for that.

In the last three months they had been stuck on the planet, they had used crystals to establish a small base below ground. The ship had been the first thing they moved below ground with the help of the crystals so they could fix it. After that, about thirty rooms had been created including one with a large pool for exercising, upon his request of course. He was supposed to be in there now for his daily therapy.

He frowned. The others would be coming for him soon if he didn't get up on his own. He didn't like it when they came to get him, the symbiot inside him reacted violently to their presence. Aldwin was the only one that the symbiot reacted to favorably, not that he could understand why.

A sudden twinge in his gut made him bend over and gasp. After he leveled out his breathing, he focused on tightening his muscles about the symbiot so it would calm the fuck down. The next few moments were spent in pain as the symbiot refused to oblige him. He smacked his belly where the symbiot was coiled. "Cut it out, you little fucker!"

The symbiot surged through him and he felt it pierce something with it's teeth. Then just as suddenly, it calmed down and seemed to rest.

"About god damned time." Standing up again, he adjusted his shirt over the now evening out flesh. The goa'uld in his belly had been coild up and making his flesh bulge out. Now that it settled down, he wasn't in any more pain than usual. He couldn't wait until they reached the gate and could get the hell out of there.

For the past three months they had been tunneling out using variations of the original crystals to reach the gate. It was taking longer than expected because of the unstable crystal matrixes. In the past three months he had learned more about crystal farming than he had ever wanted to know. Like for instance that most of the crystals used in making Tok'Ra tunnels had to be harvested by hand very carefully or they broke.

At the current rate, it took a week to grow replacement crystals for the tunnels that collapsed or fizzled out before they reached the goal. They had been making an almost straight line for the gate, a few twists and turns there to avoid boulders and ground unstable for tunnel growing. One patch of unstable gravel and sand had cost them a week of work and another two to go around when it collapsed.

The not so little worm in his gut had saved him and Aldwin that day making him cramp up and the Tok'ra having to carry him out of the tunnel. Not three minutes after they were out, the entire structure collapsed. Never in his life had he been so grateful to a snake. Not that he had ever thought to be grateful to a snake.

A knock on his hall way signaled that someone was coming down the tunnel to see him. Without doors, he had had them make his tunnel longer because he prefered to keep his secrets just that. The foot steps echoed in the silence of his room and he knew who it was before he even glanced up. "Hello, Aldwin."

"Ambassador." Stepping in to the room, Aldwin smiled at Paul hesitently. Hands behind him, he stepped closer to examine Paul. "What is your status this morning?"

"The pain is tolerable, however the snake is restless." He ignored Aldwin's grimace at the word and adjusted his robe around his body. Another thing he didn't like was the way Aldwin kept trying to get a peek at his stomach. It was enough they had stuck this damn thing in him, couldn't they have just left him alone? "Is there some special reason you came here?"

Caught staring, Aldwin brightened a little around his cheeks. "Uh, not really. Garshaw said the ship should be able to get a clear signal through the gate when we reach it tomorrow. They'll decide what to do with it once we get home."

"I suppose you are just using that as an excuse to get here. Hoping that once you got in, you would be able to examine me." Not waiting for a responce, Paul began to untie his robe and lower his shorts so that the Tok'ra operative could get access to his stomach. Hands on hips and belly thrust out, he glared at Aldwin. "Is that what you wanted to see?"

Frowning, Aldwin came over and put a hand on Paul's stomach. Tracing the outlines of the pouch scars with his finger, he shook his head. "This shouldn't be."

"What?" Looking down to the hand that was now flat against his stomach, he glared. "Is there something about a scar you don't like? Well I'm sorry, if I had known your sister putting a goa'uld in my belly would have left me so damaged, I would have woken up and told her, 'no, let me die. I'd much rather be a pretty corpse'."

"That isn't it." Poking his fingers along the scar line, he tried to penetrait the pouch only to come in contact with more scar tissue instead. Aldwin used his fingers to search the entire cross shape of what had been a maturation pouch only finding it a cross shaped scar. "You've completely healed."

"Well, I wouldn't say completely. It is still a little red, but give it a few more months at this rate and it will be flesh tone." What had tried to come off as sarcastic at worse, witty at best, fell flat when Aldwin looked him in the eye. "I take it this isn't supposed to happen to all Jaffa?"

"No. A Jaffa pouch is with them their entire lives after it is created. Yours has healed and the primta within is trapped inside you." Aldwin's hand began to trace a circle over Paul's stomach. Stepping closer, he used his other hand to place it against the other man's forehead. "Does it bother you much?"

"No more than before, why?" This was beginning to make him feel extremely uncomfortable. On top of that, what was going through him was translating to the damned snake and it was beginning to shift again. "What are you doing?"

"Checking for infection. The symbiot should be treating you as a hostile to its enviroment." When his hand didn't seem to get the desired results, he pulled Paul's face to his lips so he could press them against his forehead. "You are no more warmer than usual. This shouldn't be."

Pulling back from the Tok'ra's embrace, Paul redid his robe and glared at Aldwin. "Well, now that you've copped a feel, oogled me, and kissed me, did you want to finish this date or can I go swimming?"

"This is not an appropriate time for humor."

"Sure it is, everything that happens to me is a sick joke."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hammond glanced to Major Carter, noting her lack of responce to the video on the monitor and Gairwyn's cry for help. The malp had come through and immeadietly had been fired upon by a staff weapon. The world had been over run and now only a few of the Cimmerans were left free from the goa'uld's grasp. "Is there something the matter, Major?"

"No, sir." Glancing to him, she composed her face in to a calm facade. Raising her eyebrows, she took a deep breath. "I believe we should send in SG-4 as a recon team. There is nothing we can do for Gairwyn's people now except liberate those who remain alive."

"Is that all? I would think you above all others would be clamoring for a chance to go off world and save the day again." Seven months had healed her physically, and he thought emotionally. He knew things in her private life were strained recently, but nothing to explain the cool detachement unless... "Major, tell Colonel Redenbaugh to have his team ready. I want you to equip them with those new Phase Coils your team came up with."

"Aye, sir." She saluted smartly before making a beeline for the stairs.

Jack watched her go until the sight of her boots disappeared. Turning to Hammond, he raised an eyebrow. "Sir?"

"I have some calls to make." He dismissed his second's curiosity with a wave of the hand. As he passed Teal'c Hammond clapped him on the shoulder. "Teal'c get your men ready, we may need more than just a few teams."

"As you wish, General Hammond." Bowing his head, he glanced to the ten men and two women around him. He acknowledged their curious glances with a nod. "We will be ready."

"Good." Heading for his office, Hammond bi-passed two aids looking for his review and signature. He quickly shut and locked the door before reaching for the phone. It was a short matter to type in the number he knew by heart. When there was no responce, he hung up and dialed the next number on that short list. This time there was a responce. "This is Hammond. Yes. Yes. When? That soon? Okay, I will handle things on this end. Good bye."

Sitting back in his chair, George ran a hand over the lower half of his face. Tears pricked at his eyes. In a sudden fit of anger over the whole thing, he slammed his fist down on the arm rest of his chair. After he had cleared his head enough to start thinking practically, he reached in his desk and grabbed the proper forms. He quickly filled out the leave of absence forms and placed his stamp on them.

It was the least he could do for the daughter of his late friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The flap of the tent flew open, having been caught in the wind and jerked from the hand that had been opening it. The almost ice cold winds filled the inside of the hide tent and blew the flames of the campfire. Martouf quickly grabbed the tent flap as it flapped in the wind and jerked it back down behind him. He tied off the edge of the tent.

Glancing about him at the occupants, he smiled. "Greetings most honored father." Turning his attention to Sha're, he smiled again. "Good wife, how are you this morning?"

Sha're glanced up from her weaving and glared at Martouf. She had woken up in a foul mood and he seemed to be the source for now. "Good morning, Martouf. I am well as to be expected." At two months pregnant, she was far from okay. She had been heaving up every thing she had eatin for the past month.

Grimacing on the inside, he smiled at her. "The weather is to be fair today, perhaps you would care to walk later."

Her eyes warning him of further entreats, she nodded. "I would accept this."

Backing out, he nodded to the inhabitants and exited. He sealed the tent and left it quickly to go join the other men for a hunting party. Eight of the twelve men in the party had pregnant wives. The other four were related to the women. There was no need to explain why they were hunting in weather that would normally freeze the hair off a Schad's ass.

Chuckling, Kasuf watched his daughter tie a knot in her weaving and heave it at the bundle on the far side of his tent. "Your anger does no one any good, why do you hold on to it, daughter?"

"I cannot explain, father, there is a great need to make things painful." Growling, she picked up a leather rug she had been weaving and started untying the knots. Stopping, she held the rug in her lap as if it would run at the first chance it got. "This morning I feel uncomfortable. Martouf assures me this is normal. Normal for those who had the demon inside."

"You are free of the demon, how can it still effect you?" Coming to sit beside his daughter, her stroked her hair. It worried him that she might never be the loving Sha're she was.

"Part of it will always be a part of me." Seeing Kasuf's reaction, she patted his hand. "There are nights I dream she still controls my body. That I am prisoner in my own flesh. I wake up crying out, but it is okay, Martouf is there, he comforts me."

This eased a great burden in him and he seemed to cave in a little. Resting on her shoulder, he let out a deep breath. "It comforts me to know this."

"And me as well."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pain filled his head as he awoke. Blinking away the spots in his vision, Graham tried sitting up only to find himself falling on the floor. Above him he could see the ceiling, the bed, and the tray table he had served Saroush pizza on. His vision doubled then blurred before he could blink it away.

Feeling extremely dizzy, he rolled over to his hands and knees. It took him several false starts before he could climb up the side of the bed and use it to launch himself in to a standing position. After that, he lurched for the door and nearly missed it when his legs refused to move.

He fell against the wall next to the door, hand on the knob. Swallowing down his bile, he forced his shaking hand to turn the knob and open the door. It slowly slid open under his guidance. Once it was open enough for him to slip through side ways, he let go and slid out. There was no one in the hall way as he once again crashed to the floor.

This time he didn't wait for the pain to pass before climbing up. It was slow going as the walls were smooth under his touch. Eventually he made it up enough to use the walls for a balance. When he was steady on his feet, he started walking towards the infirmary.

Graham made it ten paces before he had to grip the wall again or pass out. His thoughts racing, he tried to focus on something long enough to figure out what was wrong. His mind started to list the symptoms but they refused to diagnose the problem. Shaking his head, he moved again.

This time he wasn't alone. Two nurses were coming his way, talking to each other and not noticing him. When he tried to speak to them, his voice failed him. Instead his entire body just shut down and he collapsed in the middle of the cooridor.

The sound of his body hitting the floor caught the women's attention. Rita rushed to Graham's side as Leona turned back for the call box up the hall from which they came. Checking Graham's vitals, she felt his pulse thready and his body temperature dangerously hot. "Leona, tell them to bring a crash cart with them, he's going in to defib!"

"Bring the shock machine! Hurry you idiot!" Hanging up on Lieutenant Castleman, the base switch board operator and boyfriend, Leona ran back to Rita's side. "What's his pulse?"

"I can't find one! His heart has stopped!" Already leaning over him, Rita crossed her hands and began chest compressions.

Leona tilted his head back waiting until Rita was through before blowing in two breaths down his throat. After the second breath she pulled back and spit out the blood that came out of his mouth. "He's swallowed blood, Rita."

"Turn him over and start reverse compressions." Helping the younger woman turn Graham over, she began to thump his back.

Graham's body convulsed and he spit out a wad of blood. Coughing, he began to gag up the blood in his throat and laranyx. When all that remained was a slow slobbery trickle from the side of his mouth, he collapsed back in their arms and promptly passed out.

Leona slid her fingers around his neck to check for a pulse. When the skin under her thumb twitched and moved, she jumped back with a scream. Skidding back across the floor, she didn't stop until her back hit the wall. Even then, she started to scream from her panic. "Goa'uld! There's a god damned snake inside him!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Release me this instant! I am your god, you will do as I command!" Bound hand, neck, and foot in chains, Cronus struggled to free himself from five Jaffa holding the metal ties that his chains were secured to. Each jerk only made the chains around his other appendages pull as they were one large loop. The humilliation alone was almost enough to kill him.

Together they led the struggling Goa'uld System Lord in to the throne room of the mother ship Ganges. The room was purposely darkened and lit only by three wall sconces. They forced the goa'uld to stand in a circle of risen stone between five stone bases in which the ties were secured.

Held in place, it took all his strength not to give in to the tremor of fear. The System Lord sitting in the darkness shrowded throne across from him, had decimated his forces at every turn, was enough to put fear even in his heart. Still he put on his worst sneer and glared down upon the seated figure.

Uncrossing his legs, Daniel sat up and leaned forward so that the torches behind him would cause the golden highlight of his hair to glow. "You are pathetic."

"You sit in the shadows. Are you so afraid to face that which your Jaffa have brought you? Cowardly spawn of that bitch Nirrti, you are..." was all he got out before he screamed in agony, his bindings growing red hot from the electricity flowing through them.

"Do you like them? I gathered the idea from the Tau'ri cooking equipment." Sitting up straight, he allowed the braids to fall around his face and down his back. The Egyptian style woven in and secured with ankhs were done especially for this confrontation. Daniel wore nothing more than a loin cloth and his ankle bracelet. Standing up, he released the control and the heating elements slowly cooled.

Cronus blinked through his pain and tears to try and glare at his captur. The sight that greeted him made his heart stop. "You are dead."

"I see you recognize me even with a new host. Pity, I had hoped to taunt you with more knowledge of our past before telling you." Stepping forward, he grabbed Cronus by the jaw in a crushing grip. Bending down, he snarled at the Goa'uld. "You are nothing. I beat you two thousand years ago, I beat you a year ago, I have beaten you now. Even when I had nothing, I was still greater than you. It was only the power of your allies that has stopped me from ever killing you before. But where are they now?"

"You will pay for this, Jolinar. The System Lords will..."

"Do nothing!" Releasing the goa'uld, Daniel back handed him away. "I have waited a long time for this moment, Cronus." Turning back, he strutted to his throne and sat down. Legs crossing, he leaned back and smiled. "Set course for home, fastest speed."

Cronus watched the First Prime nod and exit the throne room. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two priests enter with pain sticks. This time he did not stop the shudder. Summoning false bravado, he made his eyes glow as he glared at Jolinar. "Kill me while you have the chance, Jolinar, I won't be so merciful on you when I am free."

Snorting, Daniel pressed the element control again. "I am not stupid, Cronus. You have information on your allies that I missed during our last encounter and I want it." Smirking as his enemy cooked in the circle across from him, Daniel bared his teeth. "Besides, I owe you a week of excruciating agony the likes of which you have only seen, but never experienced. After the first day, you will be more than ready to give up the information. By the end of the second, you will truly understand the meaning of hell. And after the third..." Cocking his head to the side, Daniel's eyes glowed. "Well, you'll understand soon enough." Gesturing to his priests, he snapped his fingers. "Let it begin."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Teal'c sat amongst the twelve team leaders of his new units. Each of them represented a group of five men and women. Most of the teams were comprised of men as they could handle the physical strain of using the large staff weapons better than the shorter women. Height had been the number one factor in his decision of who to train. Short people could be taught, but not with the staff weapon.

He would have been hard pressed to accept Major Carter on his team, if she had been interested and completely healed before. Though she was an excellent warrior in his opinion, she was just on the short side of a Jaffa.

Most of the team members now mimicked him in style and life. They cropt their hair short or shaved it off completely, a practice he found asthetically pleasing. They wore the tight uniforms of the SGC, but in a fashion that allowed easy removal and weapon's access. Most wore combat boots outside the practice room, and remained barefoot in.

Several ate meals together in the work out room, choosing to avoid contact with most personnel. On the off chance that Teal'c might go to the cafeteria, he was joined by an army of sixty men and women. It pleased him greatly that these people, his people, were taking their rolls as guardians seriously.

It was with some satisfaction that he thought on how it was he who molded them for the last six months. They were his warriors, his people, his honored few. It had been long since he had a battalion under his command, it was almost a forgotten feeling how good it was to watch them work in unison.

Which brought him back to the present. His teams were acting out a training course through the gym. They would be facing their first major battle tomorrow for the mission to Cimmera. SG-4 had reported back that the System Lord Heru'ur had enslaved the entire populace and slaughtered what few people who tried to fight back. The SGC was now their only hope of regaining their freedom.

As the teams wound up their routine, they formed six field squads. Each squad rushed to the opposite sides of the arena, grabbed a ball and tossed it at the other five teams. Anyone who was hit by a ball dropped down and sat where they had fallen. In a matter of seconds, there were only three remaining standing. They used the sitting people as shields, crawling across the mats. Finally it was down to the last two, both were tagged from behind simultaneously.

They glanced up to see who had hit them and found Teal'c smiling down on them amused. "You should always anticipate outside forces no matter what the rules are." His smile increased at their glowers. "I did not say the game would be fair, just difficult."

"Very astute." Harry stood on the edge of the gym, his dress blues on and hat under his arm. Walking out on to the mats, he glanced about the hostile glares the teams sent him. "I go away for three days and you move to take over my job. I suppose my office has been packed up again by your bald, little minions."

"It is a distinct possiblity. If you did not wish your materials to be handled as such, I would suggest being more respectful of my people." Teal'c knew the warning would fall on deaf ears. The shorter man seemed to derive great pleasure at teasing his warriors. The teasing and pranks seemed to have forged an uneasy alliance between them. One that was necessary in their positions as Base Security Chief and Arms Commander.

"Doesn't matter, I got people who will fix it for me before I finish my meal." Harry snorted. Giving the glaring crowd another once over, he rolled his eyes. "I came to give you a fair warning. General Hammond will be leaving in two days to attend the funeral of Major Carter's father. General Vindrine from the Pentagon will be taking command. I suggest you keep a tight leash on these attack poodles, he isn't exactly understanding of why Hammond indulges your personal army. Such that it is."

Teal'c inclined his head. "Thank you for your warning. I feel I must repay this with the information that your collection of Historic Scalps has been moved to the quarter master's office. He might have been misinformed they were dead rats."

"Very well." Harry's eyes twinkled in a way that made Teal'c shudder inside. "Carry on." He nodded at Teal'c before stalking out of the gym. On the way, he produced a rolled up newspaper from some where and smacked a couple of the people on the noses.

Lieutenant Sartec came to stand beside Teal'c as they watched the Major walk out. "Shall I let the air out his tires, Master Teal'c?"

"Not as of yet. I have a much better idea. Gather six whom you know to be the most silent." Facing his second, a smile turned down the corners of his mouth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Martouf glanced at the tray of roast Kumikla and vegitibles. It was for the feast tonight, but it had been nearly a day since he ate. They had been spending a great deal of hunting time searching the great pyramid for any sign of an entrance. So far they had found nothing. A nasty side effect of this hunting in the same location meant fewer animals and less chance of catching something to eat while out on the hunt.

Kasuf, coming up behind his son-in-law, saw his staring and smiled. "Go on, eat your fill. I know your journey was long."

Not waiting to be told twice, Martouf dug in to the Kumikla and stuffed his mouth full. Grabbing a chunck of the flesh and a hand full of the vegitables, he took a seat next to the cook fire and smiled at Kasuf. He chewed what he had slowly, enjoying the taste of it on his tongue. It was rare that they had the animal since the winter set in. The Kumikla was a hybernating creature.

It made Kasuf's heart hurt to see his new son enjoying the same meat that his previous son was notorious for. Daniel had been a good son, the fact he had no grand children made the loss that much greater. His own son of his blood was still lost to him, yet he could feel no mourning until the body was returned.

Catching the older man's sorrowful expression, Martouf swallowed and stood up. Coming to kneel beside his father, Martouf offered him some of the vegitables and meat. "You should try, it is very good."

Taking a Bosson fruit from him, Kasuf chewed it and smiled at the sweet flavoring in contrast to the sour sauce coating it. "Sha're will not eat this, her mother craved them when she was pregnant but after, no woman in our family would touch them."

At the mention of his wife, Martouf frowned. "Sha're is very sick."

Kasuf's smile grew brighter. "Yes, it is great news. This means the child will be born strong and healthy. Her mother was the same way with her and her brother both. Not so with the two between." With a great sigh, he frowned. "The other two, she was barely sick. We knew the children would not survive, but we hoped. We were young."

Nodding, Martouf stuffed a chunk of the meat in his mouth. "It was the same among my people. They said my mother was sick until the last moon of her pregnancy with me. The last moon she ate until she was the size of a Schad beast." It wasn't a lie, his mother had gotten big they said, but he didn't know if they had lied or not. She had died in child birth. Being sick for too long and gaining weight too quickly had made her heart weak.

"It is a cycle. Skarra, my youngest, was the last only because his mother could not live and give him life too. She gave her spirit that he might live. Now she watches him, I hope she spares him the night mares of my Sha're."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Perseus stepped through the gate on to the Tau'ri home world for the second time in his existance. This time under much more dire circumstances. Feeling his way through the greetings, he dealt with the unpleasantries of it all. "Excuse me, General Hammond, but you said it was of grave importance that I come. What is the nature of the emergency?"

General Hammond glanced over to his right and nodded at the two guards and the airman between them. "This, until two hours ago, was Lieutenant Graham Simmons. One of your people has taken him for a host and I want you to remove it immeadietly."

Darkening with anger, Perseus came to stand in front of the Lieutenant. "Was it against his will?"

"It was a mutual..."

"I did not ask what you felt! Was it against his will?" Reaching out, he slammed his fist in to the stomach of the Lieutenant. Standing over the gasping man, he gripped him by the throat. "I will not ask again, Selmac."

Fighting the tightening grip, Selmac tried to break free. When his vision started to darken, he cried out. "Yes! Yes! He came of his own free will." The next moment he found himself thrown against the wall of the gateroom.

Perseus ignored the weapons pointed at him and turned to the General. "If you wish it, we can remove the symbiot. At this point I am fully prepared to kill it out of spite for this damnedable action." His anger changed his voice and made his eyes glow. He did not care how intimidating he was at the moment, that Selmac had done this to a Tau'ri was unforgiveable.

"I am not prepared to make that decision at this moment. As you know, this violates the terms of our treaty at the moment because this was not an approved blending." Hammond spelled it out in the terms he knew the Tok'ra would understand, terms his own people were well aware of. "Until it is confirmed, I will leave his punishment up to you."

Nodding his acceptance, Perseus gestured to his guards. "Mignat, Kree! Selmac, Kree!"

"Kree!" Two of the large warriors bent down and retrieved the still recovering Lieutenant Simmons. Taking an arm each, they dragged him to the ramp.

"Is this all you needed, General or is there something else I can assist you with?" He knew a gesture of good faith was needed in this situation to tide them over. Glaring at his sire, Perseus felt his rage well up within him. Of all the people to have broken the terms of the treaty, he did not expect it to be one of the brokers. Selmac was the one who had outlined the part that no joining between a Tau'ri and a Tok'ra could happen unless approved by all involved, including the panel in charge of the SGC.

Clearing his throat to get Perseus' attention, Hammond frowned. "There is one thing."

Turning back to face Hammond, Perseus' eyes glowed. "Name it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The stargate opened with an explosion followed by several smaller blasts before the actual strike force came through the gate. One hundred thirty people came piling out of the gate, staff weapons blasting, phase coils firing, and ribbon devices charged. The first wave of Jaffa were hit so many times little remained of their bodies to hit the ground.

Reenforcements, from the woods surrounding the gate clearing, were mowed down with deadly procission. Twin turret mounted staff cannons on either side of the DHD were the next target. The normal shielding was no match for Carter's modified pistols. Both were taken down and their Jaffa left to cinders.

Teal'c, leading the first of those from the SGC to come through the gate, stood gesturing his commands to his guard. Their leaders in turn relayed the signals to their teams. Soon all sixty of them were spreading out securing the stargate and surrounding plain.

The marines and SFs protected the command contingent and twelve Tok'ra. When all was secured, Colonel O'Niell and General Hammond stepped through the gate. Appearing on the other side, Hammond was visibly shaken from the trip. A light frost formed on the edges of his clothes and his breath became visible. After a moment, he righted himself and shook off the malaise. "Report!"

Teal'c turned and faced the General from beside the DHD. "We have secured the plain. I do not believe the rest of Heru'ur's forces will be quite so easily taken."

"I didn't think it would be. However, you are not going to charge right up to him either. Whatever glory you might obtain will be pointless if we all die." Hammond didn't wait for Teal'c's reply, turning to his second in command and the Tok'ra represenative, Karlac. "Colonel O'Niell, I want that ship! Kill every last one of them sons of bitches."

"Yes, sir, General." Saluting, O'Niell whistled for his troops. "All right, folks, you know your places. Teams seven, eight, and Kalmot, guard the gate, Teal'c your people take the flanks. Colonel Landry, get these jar heads in shape, you're taking point. I want to make a clear path between us and that mother ship. T, kill anything that moves not ours, there aren't any free Cimmerans left."

"As you wish." Spinning on his heel, Teal'c leveled his staff weapon towards the trees. "Kenshat, Kree!"

"Kree," echoed his teams. The loud echo of voices caused a few of the Tok'ra members to shift nervously and their eyes to glow.

Karlac stepped up to General Hammond, her fingers balling around the center jewel of her ribbon device. "General Hammond, I have been informed that you are a wise man. However, I must question the reasoning behind the decision to allow the Shol'va his own private army."

"You are not here to question my decisions. You are here strictly to help get that damned ship operational and back to our coloney on New Eden." Smiling at her preturbed expression, he gestured at the gate. "If you feel you can not comply with my orders, then by all means, join the returning teams. I am sure General Vindrine will be more than happy to assist you in returning to your people when we head home tomorrow."

"Do not shame us with your cowardice, Karlac." Coming to stand beside General Hammond, Perseus' eyes glowed in rage. "You are here as a favor to me. Do not make me tell you to leave."

Karlac's eyes glowed in anger, but nodded her acceptance of the plan. "I do not feel comfortable with the Jaffa as our main safety, but I will comply with your orders."

"Good, then you won't mind when I tell to shut the hell up!" Ignoring the woman's shock, Hammond turned to face his people and adjusted his hat. God it felt good to be out in the field overseeing combat again instead of just waiting at home to see if they ever returned. The weight of the field rifle at his side made him feel competent again in a way that no amount of bureaucractic fenagling ever could. "Colonel, move'em out!"

"You heard the man! Colonel Landry, clear us a path!" Cocking his M-60, O'Niell lowered his safety goggles. He gestured to the five men that made up the team to come closer. "We are heading to this Hall of Thor's Might that SG-4 told us about. Keep an eye out for Jaffa, they also said that this Hairy Orc bastard's people were also searching for it. Let's move out."

"Team Six, front row, down! Team Eight, second row, kneel! Team Nine, back row, stand! Move!" Landry pulled down his camo ball cap as he watched the three teams of ten men and women scramble in to position.

The first team dropped to the ground, arms out front, tripods on the ends of their phase riffles out. Team eight's men and women dropped to one knee and took aim with phase coils. The final team stood behind them with staff weapons at the ready.

Turning to his Tok'ra counter parts, Hammond gestured to the goggles and ear phones they each had around their necks. "I would suggest you put on your safety gear." General Hammond smiled coldly as he pulled down his goggles and ear phones.

Moving his microphone in to place, Landry's eyes sparkled in anticipation. "Target! Fire!"

As one they began firing. Entire secontions of the forest disappeared in a hellish blaze. The day grew brighter and people began to sweat from the heat. Nothing but scorched Earth remained behind from the blasts for half a mile when they ceased firing.

"Break formation, Teams 1, 2 and 3, move ahead and take shape! On the double!" While Landry shouldered his weapon, he oversaw the movement of his teams. He gave a thumbs up to Hammond.

"Colonel O'Niell, you are clear to go." Hammond acknowledged Landry with a salute before shifting his gaze to the Tok'ra. "We are following the strike teams. More than likely a fighter group is on the way now. You can either come along or take your chances with the gate guard on our six."

Smiling despite his ringing ears, Persues gestured for the General to lead the way. Giving his people a raised eyebrow, he followed the Tau'ri.

Six colemns of men and women marched across the flattened, smouldering ground towards the barrier of their weapon's path. All that remained of the ancient growth forest under their feet was ash. Even the rocks crumbled under boots.

In the woods on either side of them, Teal'c's people spread out, moving stealthily, Staff weapons at the ready. Several Jaffa disappeared in a barrage of staff blasts. He smiled in pride over their work. With their camoflage clothing and face paint, they blended in almost seamlessly. The tactic of hiding before killing your enemy spoke against his training, but the need for victory was stronger.

His thoughts almost cost him as a Jaffa popped up from the under brush with a Zat-nic-atel ready to fire on him. Instead, the man fell down dead from a staff blast to the face. Raising an eyebrow, he silently thanked the woman who had saved his life with a nod. After she acknowledged, they moved on together.

Across the woods along an over grown path Colonel O'Niell lead his men towards the great hall. Three of the six men with him knew how to read the Asguard rune language, two knew how to speak it. He was well prepared for any contingent, unless all his men died. That was why they were armed to the teeth.

They were almost at the monument when they heard it. The distinct clang of Jaffa armor rang out in the jungle. At a raise of his hand, the men spread out in the jungle ducking for cover. Jack snuck forward to check out the situation and thanked whatever moron planned Jaffa formations. Removing a couple gurnaids from his vest, he bit the pins out and tossed them in the heart of the formation. He barely had time to duck back behind a tree before they exploded.

Sitting up, he glanced up to where the tree had been and smirked. "Sweet!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

General Vindrine scratched at his iron gray hair and frowned in concern. He simply couldn't understand how the base came in to such a state of existance. For starters half the staff of the SGC was either off world in a campaign to retake a world they had left vulnerable, one of the four colonies working to establish an Earth presence in the galaxy, or on an SG Team exploring it. On his desk were twelve requisition orders for supplies to begin a fifth coloney and involve outside the U.S help.

He had a sinking suspicion George had left those specifically for him. A test to see if Vindrine was up to the task of taking command of a colony. So far he was more than ready to give it back.

The energy consumption from the gate travel so far this week alone was enough to kill him. He hated to see what the total cost of feeding these people and keeping up the base would cost. Thankfully, Colony New Eden was an agrarian colony.

Which lead to the complication that it also held a pyramid with a stargate inside it. If a goa'uld ever came back they would find the Tau'ri there and it would be the end of all they held. That in turn lead to the current mission General Hammond was leading, to secure a Mother Ship to protect the colony.

Before he could even begin to consider the current dilemma of how to keep Major Maybourne from taking control of the Mess in the name of Base Security for the bad food they were making, the gate activation alarm went off. "Oh, thank god!" With a sigh of relief, he redid the top buttons on his uniform jacket and headed for the gate room.

By the time he climbed down the last step, the gate was open and the Iris in place. "Report!"

Typing in the Iris control code, Walter glanced up at the General. "Sir, the colony, Orobus, is experiencing difficulties with their Iris controls. They are calling to tell us they are taking the gate off line so they can fix the problem. Without it, they will be completely cut off from us."

"Can't they work on it without shutting down their gate?" He knew it was a bad question the moment Davis frowned. "Let me guess, security protocols set in by our resident Major pain in the ass?"

"That would be correct, General Blow Hard." Coming in the Control Room from the back entrance, Maybourne smiled at the scowling General. Taking his hat off, he saluted the man. "I wrote those protocols to keep them and us safe. They were approved by General Hammond and the JCS. If you have a problem with them, take it up with General Hammond upon his return. Until then, they stay in effect."

"Are you telling me how to do my job, Major?" Stepping forward, he puffed up his chest and stared down at the shorter man. He was not going to take this from a little piss ass Major.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. This isn't your command and I intend to make sure you don't screw it up like some inept substitute teacher." His smile grew three sizes at the General's gasping shock.

"You are insubordinate!"

"And you're incompetent!" Turning to Sargent Davis, Harry nodded at the gate. "Acknowledge their message and tell them they have twelve hours before we come and fix the problem for them. The gate will not remain off line longer than that." Without looking to make sure he was dismissed, Harry swept out of the room with the pomp of an emperor.

All Vindrine could do was stare in wide eyed shock and think how he was going to lose the battle with the Major over Mess before it even began. Hell, the man had probably already replaced the staff and entire stock.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The empires of Baal and Cronus have fallen in to Nirrti's hands. She now controls the largest Empire since before the death of Ra. However, this has weakened her once powerful fleet. If we combine our forces, there is little she can do to stop us from over coming her once and for all." Bastet paused to take a sip of her wine before leaning across the table to smile at Kahli. Her tripoint helmet slipped forward a little as it rode up her neck from the action. "Combined we are stronger than any other system lord."

Putting down the vile she had been drinking from, Kahli grimaced in disgust. "The very thought that she even rivals my strength is comtemptable. Your idea has merrit, but lacks real focus." Rising from her coushions, the Goa'uld Queen padded barefoot across her thrown room towards the control console. Pressing her hand on the control crystals, the room grew dark and a long range communications device descended from the cieling.

"What is this?" Bastet eyed the device with a suspicious look. This was hardly part of their normal intrigues. When she recieved no responce, Bastet reluctantly climbed to her feet. Best to humor her ally for now.

Waiting until Bastet joined her by the controls, Kahli activated the communication's orb. The screen activated and the image flowed as if under water. Finally on it appeared the glowing image of Daniel, his eyes glowing in anger. "This is your threat."

Bastet thought her ally had finally lost her mind to age or the drugs she was known to imbibe. The Goa'uld in front of her was hardly a threat, in fact, she had never seen him before in her life. That he wore his hair in the same manner of half a dozen Rajas under Kahli's command was irrelivant, that just meant he was of her line. "Who is this," she prided herself on keeping the derision from her voice.

"This is the oldest living offspring of Nirrti. He is responcible for the deaths of not one, but four System lords in the past year alone, two of them queens." Smugly smirking at her ally, Kahli released the controls and the lights of the room resumed their normal illumination levels. "Not only that, he is the commander of her fleets. While he has been wiping out our enemies, she has been busy brooding an army."

"What is the name of this child?" Bastet could not help the sudden reaction caused by the news. As far as she knew, Nirrti never allowed any of her children to grow powerful enough to ever ascend beyond generals. If they tried, she killed them.

"Jolinar." Removing the veil from her hair, Kahli headed back for the cushions. Few times in her alliance with Bastet had she felt so satisfied at out whitting her. These were times to be enjoyed to the fullest. When she reached the table, she spread herself out over the cushions and grabbed a handful of grapes. "He is far from a child, especially compared to you. Jolinar is nearly twice your age."

"He is the one who nearly defeated Cronus during the great uprising! How could she allow one so dangerous to command her fleets?" Storming over to the table, she glared at Kahli. "What information are you not sharing?"

"He has finally succeeded. Cronus is either dead, or probably wishes he was." Kahli began to chuckle and dragged her hand down her chest to wipe away the fruit juice as it dripped on her while eating. "As for how, he has always been loyal to his mother, she bore him that way. Both times he carried out the campaign in her name with her blessing. Jolinar is loyal only to one person aside from himself, his mother."

"Then we can use that fact against him." Bastet's eyes went distant as she already began to form plans. "Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Nirrti is vulnerable." Plucking the grapes from a bunch one at a time, Kahli began to eat one at a time. It amused her to slowly drag this out, making Bastet beg for more. "Her fleet is spread too thin."

"I knew this. What else can you tell me about her current situation? Where exactly is Jolinar?" Growing impatient, Bastet turned her glare back on Kahli. Her voice deepened and octave to show she was no longer willing to wait. "Where did you obtain this information?"

"The source is not so important as the information. I have been given an opportunity to end this war with Nirrti once and forever." Sitting up, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and matched Bastet's glare. "After this, the System Lord Collective will either fall in line or fall under my sword. We will crush them all, finally placing the rightful rulers in their place! None can stop the might of...." She was cut off by the control console emitting a screech.

Rising to their feet, both Bastet and Kahli rushed to the controls.

Kahli reached the controls first. Pressing her hand on the command orb. She instructed it to seek out the source of the disturbance. Upon reading the message, she let go of the orb. "Ready your fleets. The Border world of Tash'hana is gone."

"That is between mine and your territories! Its destruction is meant to make us suspect the other and I know I have not moved against you!" Her left hand balling up in preparation to defend herself against Kahli if need be, she was taken off guard by the sudden chuckle from her ally. "What is the meaning of this?"

"It is a ruse!" Laughing, Kahli's eyes glowed in anger. Reaching out, she grabbed Bastet's hand in her own and led her towards the table. "They believe themselves so intelligent as to be beyond our touch. That by making it appear we agress against one another, they can distract us from their actions and weaken our resources. Ready your fleet, we are going to force this issue among the Collective and then we will begin to remove the traitors from our midst!"

"Who is behind this?"

"The Tok'ra!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rising from his place by the fire, Martouf glanced towards his wife. At his movements, she looked up and met his eyes. They smiled at each other. Rising, Sha're made her excuses to the others and walked out with Martouf from the camp towards their home.

Kasuf watched them go, smiling to the others knowingly. It did his heart good to see his daughter happy once more. The loss of good son Daniel had been a severe blow to her, to them all. It was only now that he was feeling the hope he once had for the future again.

The tribe would know the next generation.

This lead to other more painful thoughts. His son was still out there under the control of a demon. Closing his eyes, he forced down the pain. There was no time for that anymore. He would not grieve until his son was brought home to him one way or another.

He was about to drink from the beer bowl when the communal tent flaps were thrown open. Glancing up, he watched two men stumble in. Kasuf stood and put down his bowl. "What is the matter?"

"The great charriot, it is active!" Jasuhn, the first man through the curtains, dropped his bow and arrows to his side. "The great vessel has started to glow in the moon light!"

"Gather our people. Jahndi, get Martouf!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack fell back on to what felt like a flat surface, terror making him lose control of his bowels for a moment. His pants were still clean, but the same could not be said for the air. "Son of a bitch!"

"Colonel, was that you?" Lieutenant Marslie glanced down at the Colonel whom he had just seen falling to his death after saving Major Kovak. The air was not a serious concern at the moment, but if the Colonel kept up, he would soon need to light a match. "Sir, I think it was an illusion."

"Ya think?" Standing up, O'Niell rubbed at his knees. "Damn it, Major, next time I tell you not to go for something, I mean it! You nearly got us all killed."

"But, sir, it was just an illusion." The Major hung his head at his own words. He had only been trying to save the Asguard device from falling over the cliff. It could have been a communication's device. Said device was now just across the room from them.

The device was a large disk the size of a frisbee. Placed at the center of a circle of stone. The disk suddenly glowed white and an image rose up from it. Blinking at them stood a gray alien with large black eyes. "Greetings, I am Commander Thor. You have passed the tests to prove you are worthy of our communications." Staring from one person to the next, the Asguard blinked again. "You are not the people of Cimmera."

"No. Uh about that, we sorta have a problem." Jack could swear he saw the smoke coming from the little alien's ear holes just by watching him. "We sorta destroyed the Hammer device you left behind to protect them and now there is a Goa'uld on the planet."

"Kret...." Thor closed his as he let out a string of curses. Finally calming himself, he glared at the humans. "You are of the Tau'ri, I presume."

"Yeah, that's us. How did you know?"

Narrowing his eyes, Thor grew angrier. "I can see there is much to discuss."

Jack wondered why he felt like the kid caught stealing his dad's car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exiting hyperspace, the mother ship's sub light engines picked up their momentum and moved them towards the planet. Daniel marveled at how simple a machine this starship was. It was really quite a terrific device, so fragile, yet durable. He often wondered how the Goa'uld came to pocess such technology.

His genetic memories did not provide the answer, they barely partained to anything beyond his mother's existance. Nirrti loved to keep a tight rein on her children, even back when he was spawned. Thinking of back then led to his current predicament.

Shifting in his throne to face the burned, bruised, and beaten Cronus, Daniel could hardly summon a feeling for the Goa'uld beyond apathy. He had beaten the System Lord and broken him slowly. It felt good while he did it and he reveled in it after wards. That had happened in the first day. Since then, it had been just a waste of time to torture him, Cronus was no longer a challenge.

"It would probably be better to deliver your head instead to my mother." When he got no responce, Daniel shrugged and turned back to the control console. On the screen was his home world growing larger as they grew nearer. "She will be pleased with your capture."

"I," he gasped for breath, "do not care." Cronus drew in another shuddering breath. "Please, kill me now."

"That would deprive Nirrti of pleasure." Rising from his throne, Daniel moved towards the control console. Pushing his hand on to the lighted control, he manipulated the ship to decrease speed and enter the atmosphere. "We are going to take the entire ship down. I want this to be an occaision they do not forget."

"Kulattan, Kree. Estrove shneash tu. Esu masa nengua." The ship's alert system rang out through the ship telling the people aboard to prepare for atmospheric entry. Shaking slightly from the entry, the ship began to vibrate. "Asuta mavash ne atu."

Cronus' head shot up as he stared at Daniel. "What are you doing?"

Removing his hand from the control console, Daniel's eyes glowed. He turned his ribbon device on himself and smirked at the glowing jewel. The device activated and he was thrown across the room. Daniel crashed in to the wall behind his throne and slid down. Forcing himself to move despite the pain, he crawled over to the transport rings.

When he reached the rings, he laid back. Hand groping for his control crystal, Daniel pressed the red jewel on top. The rings ascended from the floor surrounding him. They landed on top of one another. In the next moment, Daniel disappeared in a flash.

Cronus fell to the deck as his bonds suddenly released him. When the ship rocked and the wall exploded, he glanced about him. The ship shook again under his body. Another volley caused the ship to tilt and roll him towards the control console. He hit with a wet thump and grunt.

Hand reaching up, he grasped the console. Another alarm rang out in the ship but he was in too much pain to hear it. Blinking through the tears and blood in his eyes, he sat up to read the console's monitor board. On the board he saw two figures flashing. "Kashi!" The two figures disappeared.

On the ground, Daniel appeared in the transport rings just in time. Watching the sky, he began to laugh. High above the city, the mother ship he had been landing exploded. Night turned to day as shock waves blew through the city.

As the dust began go settle, Daniel let his body relax. He coughed a few times waiting for someone to come. He didn't have to wait long.

From across the palace, Jaffa raced to his ring pad. They had seen him ring down before the ship exploded and were doing their duty. Of course, he would have to kill the palace guard. Had he been a bomb, the entire palace would most likely be gone. Someone should have really been watching the rings.

For now, however, he would content himself with the current actions. Coughing again, he clutched at the first guard that knealed beside him. "Tell the goddess it was Kahli! Kahli has broken the truce." Pushing the Jaffa away, his eyes glowed and voice deepened. "Tell her now!"

"Yes, my lord! Right away!" Rising from Daniel's side, the Jaffa sped away towards the palace proper.

Smiling on the inside, Daniel laid back and awaited the aid of his people. It was turning out to be a good day after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Standing in the Pel'tac of his mother ship, Heru'ur watched over the battle at his very gates. Well it wasn't a battle so much as a massacre. His forces were being slaughtered by the weapons of the Tau'ri. Every Death Glider he launched, every Alkesh he directed at them was blown from the sky. They were coming for him and nothing he had at his command was powerful enough to stop them.

Rage welling up within him, he struck the console. The time had come to end this mockery once and for all. Placing his hand on the command control, he raised shields and the pyramid ship's outer hull to cover his palace. The ship was his father's until the very same Tau'ri had blown him to the under world.

Now he was in command of the most powerful vessels of the Goa'uld fleets. He would not be out done by the very slaves that his father had been beatin by two thousand years ago and two years ago.

He was not weak!

The control panels on either side of his command console rose and the ship shuddered in take off. Slowly the great pyramid rose off the landing platform. If he couldn't beat them by land and air, he would deliever his death from orbit!

That idea was quickly changed when several alarms on the console went off. Glancing to the display orbs, his eyes glowed in fear. Not one, but two Asguard mother ships had appeared over his ship.

"Goa'uld. You have violated the treaty between our two peoples. The Asguard council has here by cast judgement that your life be terminated effective immeadietly." The voice of the Asguard Commander rang out over his ship's communication systems. "Prepare to recieve judgement."

His ship glowed brilliant white as the Asguard beam weapons penetraited his shields. Spinning to face the view port, Heru'ur saw for himself just how close the Asguard Mother Ships were. That was the last thing he saw as his own ship disappeared under the beam weapon assault.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, I was telling this guy I knew... What?" Jack glanced about him and found himself in front of the Cimmera gate. Grinning, he lowered his hands and stuck them in his pockets. Turning to Lieutenant Marslie, he grinned. "You suppose he's heard that one before?"

"Must be, sir." The Lieutenant was too nice to point out the fact that the Asguard Commander was too nice to tell him to shut the fuck up. It could be that or he just cared about his career too much. Either way, he wasn't going to be the one to reveal that mystery. He was relieved of any burden when General Hammond came rushing up to them. "Sir!"

"At ease, Lieutenant." General Hammond returned his salute despite his words. Always a good idea to keep the men feeling like you cared. "Colonel, report."

"Well, sir, basically it boils down to this." Jack leaned up on his tip toes before dropping down, wiggling his eyebrows at the older man. When this failed to produce a reaction, he sighed. "Though we have advanced a great deal further than previously recorded, they are not suitably impressed with us to forge an alliance. In their words, we are still too young."

"Well it certainly wasn't because of your stunning conversation skills, sir." Ah, there it went. Marslie could feel his career slipping away with every moment.

After glaring at the younger man a moment, Jack turned back to the General. "Sir, the Asguard are happy with the job we did at fixing our mistake, but they want us off their planet ASAP. Seems by having Carter's little fancy doohickies we are violating a treaty they have with the Goa'uld or something."

"What about the mother ships?" Hammond caught sight of Jack's gaze as he spoke and glanced over his shoulder to see what distracted him. "Well, there goes that. Colonel, round up the men, we have fifteen minutes before we move out. I am assuming the locals will be handled by the Asguard."

"Righto. They have a lot of their own explaining to do to the Cimmerans. Seems the locals didn't know that it was a bunch of aliens, not gods that watched over them." Jack whistled as the high pitched whine of the Asguard weapons leveled the landing pyramids in to dust. "I want one of those."

"Put it on your christmas list, Colonel. Right now we got some people to evacuate."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The gate shut down as General Hammond exited the event horizon. Glancing back at it, he shivered. It took him a moment to realize that it was finally over. The pace of it all finally got to him and he staggered a little. "I'm getting too old for this."

About him the gateroom was awash in activity as teams exited with their supplies and trophies of Goa'uld artifacts and weapons. Teal'c was over seeing the removal of several primta they had stuck in jars. Jack was chewing out the smart ass Lieutenant. Across the gateroom his counter part was standing looking ready to explode.

Taking a deep, cleansing breath, he put on a good front and walked down the ramp. "General Vindrine."

"General Hammond, welcome home." The iron gray General saluted Hammond and smiled when it was returned. The first time he had gotten one since stepping on this damned base. "How was the campaign, George?"

"It was. We lost no men, but suffered several injuries." Gesturing at the techs going over the goa'uld supplies, Hammond smiled. "We did manage to smuggle out some of the Naquadah before the Asguard destroyed the Goa'uld bases. That should be enough to fuel our weapons for a time."

"I look forward to reading your report, General." Stepping back and gesturing towards the door, Vindrine inclined his head. "In the mean time, you have a funeral to attend. A valet is waiting with your dress uniform and a hot shower if you hurry."

"Are you that anxious to see me off?" His question was only half joking.

"The sooner you leave, the sooner you can return." Vindrine caught sight of Maybourne watching them through the control room windows and shuddered.

Hammond understood the feeling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Martouf led the team of Abydoseans through the great pyramid looking for any sign that the ship had left something behind. The great ship had come four months ago without a single word. It had left in the middle of the night the same way. On his orders, they had waited until the day to see if anything had remained. Looking through the barren chambers, he now knew nothing remained.

At last they reached the gate room. The DHD was still entact and the gate had a fine layer of dust on it from lack of use. All in all, it looked as if the entire pyramid had remained untouched during this time. On a hunch, Martouf dialed the coordinates for the Tau'ri home world.

The first six symbols locked, but when he reached the seventh, it refused. Sighing in frustraition, he glanced down at the controls. He was still staring when Kasuf came in. "They must have removed the control crystal. We can not leave the planet."

"Who would wish to? We have everything we need right here." For a moment Kasuf had forgotten that his new son was not of their world. That he was not like Daniel, he actually wanted to go off world. Feeling relief that the gate of the gods would not in fact work, he laid a heavey hand on his son's shoulder. "Come, your wife is waiting. There is nothing but ghosts here."

Glancing at the gate, Martouf wanted to stay behind. He wanted to scream and cry and shout for whatever injustice had been commited that he remain here. What he did was nod and turn with Kasuf. The gate would still be there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paul traced a hand over his slightly swollen belly. The area had grown bright red and swelled over the past twelve hours. Inside him he could feel the primta growing ever more agitated and swatted it. Then he ended up cursing because his stomach was sore before the hit. Laying back against the cool crystal wall, he gasped in pain. "Uh, guys, I think something is going on in there."

Garshaw set down the data recorder she carried from the ship. Coming back to stand beside Paul, she sighed. They had been moving their supplies to the last base of operations before they reached the surface later that evening. Every step of the way had been excruciating for the Tau'ri, she knew, but they had to move if they were going to save him from infection. Pulling out the healing device, she looked him in the eyes. "So far this has failed to aid in your condition, it may not work now."

Gasping in pain, he clenched his eyes shut. "At this point I would be willing to let you cut the little bastard out! Why exactly did you put this thing inside me again?"

"At the time it was the only way to save your life. We had the tools to create a pouch and the Jaffa no longer had need of it. I have explained this to you many times." With as much care as she could muster in her exhausted state, she quickly unfastened the buttons on his shirt and pulled it open. Raising her hand to use the healing device, she gasped.

"What?" Looking down, all he could see was the same swollen area he had been suffering from for the past day. "Is it really that bad? Does this mean you will have to cut the little bastard out?" He tried to hide the excitement over that idea from her. No need to give them any ideas, like that he was a masochist.

Garshaw, ignoring his hiss of pain, ran her fingers over the swollen area. "This isn't just a case of simple infection. The primta is trying to merge with you." She traced her fingers over the former seams of the pouch and shook her head. "The pouch is being absorbed in to your body."

"What? You mean I'm going to be the fucking host to a Goa'uld? Oh, this is just perfect!" Reaching out, he tried to grab her by the throat. "I am going to kill you!" Too easily she knocked him back on his ass. "Get this fucking thing out of me!"

"I am afraid it will not be that simple. The primta is the only thing keeping you alive. Removing it at this point would simply kill you." She rubbed at the spot on her collar where he did grab hold before she hit him.

"Well what exactly do you expect me to do until we reach the surface?" Climbing to his feet, Paul glared at her. His sore belly made slow work of it.

"Lucky for you, we are almost there." Walking over, she picked up the data recorder and started off for the front of the cave. She refused to show how much the primta's actions had unnerved her.

"Cold bitch." Holding on to the wall, he followed along behind her and the others. They continued on for another couple hundred yards before they reached the end of the tunnel. When they did, Paul sagged down to the floor and heaved a put upon sigh. "All right, how do we get up to the surface?"

"Stand up and come here." Aldwin waved his hand for Paul to come closer. Looking towards Garshaw, he nodded the moment Paul was within reach.

Garshaw pressed a jewel on her wrist and from the cieling transport rings dropped down on them. "We harvested them from the ship. Probably the easiest part of this entire trip." She smirked at Paul as he scowled then they disappeared in the rings.

Upon the surface of the planet, the rings came up through the ice, breaking the surface just in front of the gate. When they landed, all five people appeared, then the rings went down again. A moment later they were surrounded by staff weapons and Jaffa.

"Son of a bitch!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

General Vindrine walked the cooridors of the SGC content in the silence for once. Even if it didn't last for much longer, he was finally able to take a breath. The battle with Major Maybourne over command had finally ended in a stalemate. He had planned on talks over lunch to creat a DMZ on level 24. The man was completely insane, he was sure of that now.

The most recent spat had been about allowing any further Tok'ra pass pens. Already they had gone through thirty and not one had been returned to the control room lock up where they were housed. He had thought it a simple thing, make more, but Maybourne was even more a tight ass about funds and supplies than he was. God that man would have made Scrooge wince from his greed.

Coming around the bend, he had the decision of heading back towards the elevators or head to the control room. On a hunch, he turned towards the control room. It wasn't so much a hunch as an extreme feeling of dread. The morning so far had been too quiet.

Two days, he only had to survive two more days before he handed command back to Hammond. That is if he could main tain his own sanity. And damned if that wasn't a trying struggle.

Bracing himself, he walked up the slight incline towards the control room. Much to his relief, the room was silent and only Walter Davis was on duty. Taking a much needed breath, he walked in to the control room and sat down next to the Sargent. Thumping the other man on the shoulder, he grinned. "So."

"So." Walter grinned back shakily. "What can I do for you, General?"

"Nothing, son, just enjoying the peace." At Walter's expression, he felt his good mood evaporate. "What's wrong?"

"You should never say that around here, sir. Not to sound superstitious, it is just a given." As if to confirm his words, the gate suddenly sprang to life without the ring even activating.

Three figures tumbled through followed by several staff blasts and exploding debris. As one of the figures moved to sit up, it was struck by a staff blast and it's head fell from its shoulders.

General Vindrine stood up, eyes wide. "Son of a bitch!"

Several more staff blasts came through the gate before the worm hole disappated like mist. On the gate ramp the two remaining figures started to move slowly.

Walter leaned over and pressed the mic control. "Medical team to the gate room. Security to the gate room!"

Jack, who had been aimlessly wondering the halls found himself among the crush of personnel heading for the gate room as if summoned. To his right, he could see Teal'c and raised his eyebrows in question. When the big Jaffa nodded, he knew he wasn't the only one to have felt the summons. Soon they were at the gate room door, opening it.

He followed Dr. Warner through in to the large room and up the ramp to two very familiar figures. A third headless figure drew his attention from the living two for a moment and he felt sick. The cries of the living returned his attention to them. Pushing an airman out of his way, he knelt by the older's side. "Laia! What the hell happened to you guys?"

Putting a blood stained hand to her head, the Nox shook from shock. "They're gone, all of them."

"Who? Laia, who are gone?" When she looked him in the eyes, he felt something inside his mind burst and the information was suddenly there. Crying out from the pain, he fell back on the gate ramp. He waved off the medic as he sat up. "I'm all right, tend the Nox!"

"O'Niell, are you well?" Teal'c assisted Jack in standing then caught his friend as he nearly fell. "You are in need of medical assistance."

"No, I'm fine, just need a couple asprine for this head ache." Rubbing at his head, he gasped in pain. The information took a moment to register, but it came to him eventually. Glancing up at the control room, he caught General Vindrine's eyes. "Better get the JCS on the line, General. It's finally happened."

Taking the mic from Walter, Vindrine pressed the call tab. "What is happening Colonel? Who are these people?"

Jack looked down at Laia as she cradled the body of the headless Nox. "They're the first casualties." Holding on tightly to Teal'c, Jack felt if he let go the overwelmingly sinking feeling would take hold. "The entire System Lord Collective has declared war on one another and the Nox got caught in the cross fire."

It took Vindrine a moment to recall who the Nox were. "Are you telling me these people are of that race of peace loving beatnics?"

"No, sir." Jack shook his head slowly. "I'm telling you, these are all that remain of the Nox."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Colonel O'Niell, welcome home." General Hammond released the mic button as he stood up. The past four months had been the hardest in his career and it looked like it was only going to get worse. Glancing about him at the new equipment they had brought in to command and secure the gate made him feel out dated. So much new technology had been sunk in to this base that it hardly felt like a military establishment so much as the set of a television show.

The fiberoptics Major Carter had been bitching about had been approved along with a new gate power system that made them independant of any power grids outside the base. With the gate on its own power generators, most of the rest of the base could run off natural energy sources. Several sub-systems of the computer cores seemed to be every where, like his grand children. The entire thing was filled with so many redundancies it made his head hurt. But the good thing was that all he had to do when in pain was kick the nearest one and help would be on its way in the form of a repair team.

What all these computers did was determine a threat and shut down the gate if there was one, even if the gate had been opened from the other side. Basically, it was a kill switch. All he had to do was enter the command, press his hand to the scanner and the gate would send a fake signal to the other gate that this one had been locked and the gate would shut down automatically.

Already they had used the damned thing three times since it was installed to stave off a goa'uld attack. Already they had lost two full teams to Goa'uld attacks and various members from other teams. In total, they had lost twelve personnel from off world teams.

For the past four months since the war had started, he and the other members of the SG Command Council had been coming up with a way to protect Earth from the coming invasion. Staring at the gate through the protective glass, a cold shudder went through him. They all knew that a strike force was coming, it was only a matter of when.

So far, all attempts to secure a ship larger than a cargo vessel had failed. Earth was defenseless against an orbital attack, which was why O'Niell and his new team were out. Now, just like every other time, had failed. Even Carter's advanced weapons and Teal'c's army were useless.

That was unjustified.

Both of them had done their best. In fact, the combination of both was the only thing that had saved the colony of New Eden from Bastet's forces. Not that there was a coloney left after that siege. The planet had been abandoned and the survivors evacuated.

Since then, all resources for new colonies had gone in to beefing up security on the already existing ones. One new advancement from Carter's weapons had been a ground based anti-aircraft batteries. The Tok'ra were in the process of updating the colonies with shields. He hoped they succeded and soon.

Coming down the steps behind him from the confrence room, Major Carter and her second in command, Captain Valerie were arguing over the specs for a new weapon. "Sir, I respectfully object. These cooling rods just aren't enough, after two consecutive uses, the weapon will over heat and explode."

"Exactly! That's the point of this design." Smirking at the young man's abject horror, Sam patted him on the shoulder. "They are designed to function as last minute distractions. Their entire purpose is to provide time for the colonists to escape and take as many of the enemy with them. If they self destruct before they are destroyed, the enemy won't have time to avoid the blast. The only problem is we can't make that many of them because it is a waste of precious materials."

"Then why make them at all? If the material is that valuable, why waste it on something that can only be used twice before it goes kablooy?" In Captain Valerie's opinion, kablooy was a technical term. It meant the destruction of so much work as to be irrisponcible.

"Why did they spend so much time on the A-bomb if they were just going to blow the damn thing up?" Letting him think on that one, Sam finished walking down the steps in to the control room. Smiling at the General, she waved. "Sir, Colonel O'Niell and I found nothing on Miran that even suggest that an Alkesh, let alone a mother ship had ever been left there by Ra. It was another false lead to keep his enemies from finding his so called mythic fleet."

"I figured as much, but any lead at this point must be explored. Did you encounter any resistance from the local population?" He hoped not, the last thing they needed was another race joining in the war against them.

"No, sir. The Miran were more than happy to meet an enemy of the Goa'uld. They had been abandoned by Ra to rot and fend for themselves when a wheat harvest had failed to produce enough to feed his fleet and the Miran." Sam removed the pen she had stuck in the pocket of her uniform jacket, signed the report for the Captain, then handed it back to him. "In fact, if we can begin supplying them with metal tools and offer our protection, they are willing to start sending everything they would have given to Ra in exchange. Since the loss of New Eden, our food stores have been switched back to Earth Based Goods, which is not enough for the colonies and us."

"Understood. Have the necessary information drafted and I will review it before sending it to Washington." He was about to clap her on the shoulder when the gate suddenly sprank to life. "Close the Iris!" He turned to face the worm hole as it finished spinning and the event horizon exploded outwards.

"Sir, it's the Tok'ra!" Walter typed in the access code that over rode the Iris. When nothing came through the gate, he started scanning for any signals. "Recieving text message from the Tok'ra."

"What's it say?"

"It is from the operative Hanshu." Frowning, Walter couldn't believe what he was reading. "She reports that her target objective has come under attack and is requesting an extraction team to retrieve her and her prisoner."

"Granted." Turning back to Major Carter, he only smiled when she nodded. "Bring her home in one piece. Tell the Colonel to take SG-4 and two of Teal'c's teams."

"Will do, sir." Saluting, Carter ran from the control room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hanshu fell back against the tunnel as the ground shook again. Her side ached from the staff blast wound, but it was only a minor irritation compaired to her hostage. Grabbing the Goa'uld Queen by the neck, she slammed the blubbering bitch against the wall face first. "You will be silent!"

Hathor clutched the crystals while spitting out a mouth full of blood. "How dare you touch us!"

Back handing the queen, Hanshu had to clench her fist around the ribbon device to prevent it from activating and killing the annoying Goa'uld. "I will not tolerate you for much longer, your majesty."

Around them the crystal chamber shook and shards rained down from above. More blasts from the orbiting mother ship impacted the earth as it tried to locate them. When the mother ship had suddenly come out of no where, Hanshu had thought it was another of Hathor's fleet. However, that changed when the ship opened fire and decimated her mother ship in a hellish blaze.

Most of Hathor's stolen fleet and Jaffa had died in the first few blasts. If it had not been for their proximity to a ring transport and her ability to redirect it's flow to her tunnel's, neither of them would be alive. As it was, she was starting to regret that decision.

Every time she thought the queen down, she would get up and demand something. The barrage had been going on for fifteen minutes and most of her tunnels had collapsed. The only thing remaining was the control room beneath the gate dialing device and it was only a matter of time before not even that survived.

Another explosion collapsed the tunnel behind her. Debris and dust flew through the air. Spinning fast, she used Hathor to shield herself. The earth shook a couple more times before going silent. Hanshu could hear the distant rumbling of the mother ship's weapons firing grow further away from them.

Deciding it was now or never, she stood up from where the last blast had knocked her and Hathor. When the queen didn't protest her rough treatment, Hanshu glanced down at her. She could see now why the queen had been silent for a bit. A large crystal shard had embeded itself in her chest through her lungs and she was gasping for breath.

Lifting Hathor to her feet, Hanshu smiled. "This is obviously a good look for you." Hanshu pressed the control crystal on her wrist device and activated the rings around them. When they appeared on the surface, she dragged the gasping queen towards the gate.

The gate exploded in to life just as she reached for the controls. Twenty men and women came rushing down the gate steps, Jack and Sam at the lead. Sam stopped short upon seeing who Hanshu had in her custody. "Well look what the cat drug in!"

"Hunh?" Jack glanced to where his second was looking then did a double take. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"There is no time for this, Colonel O'Niell!" Thrusting the queen at the big Jaffa guard, Hanshu reached down to start the dialing process. "Ready your gate device, mine was damaged in the attack!"

"Look out, we got incoming!" Jack dove for cover as a squad of Death Gliders began a run at them.

The blasts hit around the DHD tossing up dirt and blasting Hanshu back. Growling, she dusted herself off and crawled back to the DHD.

"Fire at will!" Jack activated his phase coil. Taking up aim, he began firing at the Death Gliders before they can swing around to make another pass at them. Two of the ships exploded under the assault before they came back down. "Take cover!"

This time the ships made a successful pass hitting the one of Teal'c's team. The remains of two members exploded on the remaining four. Raising their own staff weapons, the survivors opened fire at the Death Gliders. Their combined attacks brought down the two ships responcible for the attack.

Hanshu slapped her hand on the control crystal and the gate activated. Shouting her triumph, she ran around the DHD to Teal'c. Grabbing the queen by the arm, she started for the event horizon. "Send the signal now!"

"Sent!" Sam waited for the confirmation before nodding at the others. "We are green! Retreat through the gate!"

"You heard the Major, get your asses back home!" Jack continued to lay down cover fire at the severely reduced number of Death Gliders as he backed towards the gate. His eyes widened as several blasts from the orbiting mother ship closed on their position. The blasts were so close together they destroyed the Death Gliders in their way. "Run for it!"

The earth exploded beside him, throwing him through the gate. Before he even started on the down side of his crashing arc, the gate shut down. Seeing the gate ramp six feet below him, Jack closed his eyes and braced for impact. None too soon, he hit, bounced, and then rolled down the ramp.

Coming to a stop, Jack opened his eyes and glanced about him. At his side Carter and Teal'c lay, but there didn't appear to be anyone else. Risking the extra pain, he sat up a little. Jack ignored the sounds of the doors opening and personnel coming in to look about for the rest of his teams. Not seeing anyone else, he caught Teal'c's eye. "Did anyone else...."

"No."

At Teal'c's word, Jack let himself fall back against the floor. Seventeen of his people and a Tok'ra operative dead, there was going to be hell to pay when he found out who that Goa'uld was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watching the replay of the death of Hathor, Daniel felt little joy in the fact she died so quickly. This war was far from the glorious flames of destruction he had envisioned. So far, all that had resulted was a few planets changing hands, the destruction of a few worlds, and the decimation of former alliances.

They weren't fighting!

Three months of total war and all the goa'uld had done was grand stand and hiss at each other like a couple common peacocks. Granted, Bastet and Kahli had tried to run the border between their space and his mother's. That had ended in a stalemate as neither was prepared for a war just yet.

And that was the problem. None of the Goa'uld wanted to just fight, they wanted to gain more out of this than they put in. They had forgotten the true meaning of war, grown fat with easy victories. Every time his fleets threatened on the borders of other empires, they would wave a non agression treaty in his face.

Slamming his fist through the long range conmmunications device, Daniel knocked it from the base in front of him. The orb fell to the ground sparky as the crystals inside glowed one last time, then died.

"Such anger, Jolinar." Setting down her scroll pen, Nirrti glanced over at her offspring, a cocked eyebrow her only reaction. "Does your victory over yet another enemy displease you or is there yet another reason you see fit to destroy my workings?"

"There is no pleasure. Each one I kill, I feel nothing, no satisfaction. They simply die, like pests to be exterminated." Rising from his seat, Daniel pushed the braids from over his eye long enough to rub at the brow, then let them drop back in place. The host's hair was now colored black to match statues his mother had commissioned for his victory.

Nirrti had been grateful for his work in securing borders, annexing the territories of Baal and Cronus, and stopping Kahli and Bastet's invasion attempts. That was the only reason he was still alive after letting Cronus die before she could extract her own vengence against him. That was one memory Jolinar was still smarting over, but it had to go according to plan.

Staring at her with one visible eye, Daniel moved closer to her. His own features were carefully arranged to show mere interest. "Why do you not allow me to destroy them?"

"We must rebuild after the costly war with Cronus," she snapped. This was a conversation they had had many times in the past three months. She hadn't enough Jaffa to maintain the fleet as it was, let alone to man the war ships she was building. She needed more people, more resources. Jolinar knew this, she made sure of that.

"I do not require excuses, mother! I am well aware the fact our Jaffa are few in number. We do not require many to man the Ha'tak and Alkesh." Daniel stopped directly in front of her. Their heights almost equal, he stared her directly in the eye. "I want what is mine."

"Your sire was right, you are a fire brand." Placing a hand to his face, she gently stroked his cheek. A smile spread across her features. The host was perfect, not even she could have chosen a more beautiful slave to be the vessel of her offspring. "There is little I found pleasureable of our union, but your creation was worth the discomfort. You have proven that time and again."

"If I am such a valuable tool, then why not use me?" Daniel found himself unable to remove her hand from his face, just as he was unable to kill her. She held him on the strongest tether, he would do whatever she asked of him. "Tell me what to do."

"Tell me why you find such disatisfaction in their deaths?" She held his face close, stroking the skin beneath his eye with her thumb.

"They offered no challenge. An easy victory, is no victory but a slaughter. As I do not intend to eat my enemies, there is no point in it." His anger over that fact showed as his eyes glowed. "I want to punish them for being weak. We are Goa'uld, we are supposed to be gods. Slaves are rising up against us and winning!"

"The Tau'ri." Clenching her hand in anger, she ignored the way her nails drew blood in his skin. "Soon, Jolinar, you will have your war, but not until we are ready."

"And while we wait, our enemies are marshalling their forces."

"I would think their putting up more of a fight would be what you wanted." Releasing him, she patted the sore area. "You will simply have to be content in watching the borders until then. Let them see how much it girds you to wait. Enjoy the fear it instills."

"As you wish, mother." Daniel was about to bow and leave the room when a brilliant white flash filled the far corner. He spun to face the new threat, arm raised. His actions earned him a toss across the room.

Nirrti ignored her offspring flying from the blast to focus on the enemy at hand. "What is it you seek, Asguard?"

Cocking his head to the side, Thor narrowed his eyes. "Keep tighter rein on your subjects, goa'uld. In exactly four standard days time, a summit has been called on the Tau'ri home world. You will attend as one of the three most powerful represenatives of the System Lord Collective. Failure to do so will violate the treaty of Selet as signed by the System Lord Collective and result in your immeadiet termination."

Smirking, Nirrti bent over her machine again. "I am busy, however, the treaty stipulates I may appoint someone to my stead."

"It does." Thor knew this was part of the negotiation with the goa'uld. They never directly did anything they were ordered to do, there was always a delay tactic.

"In my place shall go the commander of my fleets, Jolinar of Malksur."

"Very well."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack stared around him. He had been standing in the shower a minute ago singing to himself and now he was in the middle of a long empty cooridor looking down upon Earth. All sense of decensy gone, he stood there umabashedly looking around for the source of the new location. "Hello?"

A blinding flash of light filled the corridor and suddenly an erriely familiar being was standing there looking at him. "Greetings, O'Niell.

"Oh god." Jack hurridly covered himself after noticing the alien was also naked. "You aren't here to probe me, or anything, right? Cause, from looking at you, I don't think it would work. Not that I'm not flattered, out of five billion people, you pick me and all, just, no."

"You will prepare your world for the arrival of three Goa'uld. All the information you need is in this book." As he spoke, a metal book with paper pages appeared in front of Jack. "Comply with all the rules or your planet's future protection will be forfeit."

"Protection?" Jack stared at the alien in front of him wide eyed. This was just too weird, even for an abduction scenario.

"Take the book."

"What if I don't want to take the bo..." Jack found himself in the middle of the SGC command room. "Okay, I'll take the book." The book appeared on the floor in front of him.

Coming up behind the soaped up Colonel, General Hammond glared at his subordinate. "Colonel, just what the hell is going on?"

"Big trouble, sir." Jack pointed at the book with his big toe, refusing to turn around. "All in there. If you excuse me, I gotta go!" With that, he took off out of the control room at a dead run towards his office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kahli gripped the rests of her chair as the chamber shook violently around her. Banners fell from the walls as control crystals exploded in their sockets. Her Jaffa, most already dead, tried desperately in vain to hold off the boarding enemy. In a sudden cry of rage, she rose from her chair and moved for the transport rings.

Standing over the marked spot, she activated the controls. To her horror, they didn't even hum. She stared down at them again as she pressed the control. Thinking quickly, she ran to the wall consol. She entered the right commands and still nothing happened.

The doors of her throne room exploded inwards. Strolling through the debris, the black garbed figure of a Goa'uld entered. His hand raised, he fired upon the queen.

Kahli flew back against her wall, cracking her head on the dancing figure of her own legend. As she slid down the wall, she raised her own ribbon weapon and fired upon the figure. When the blast only bounced off his shield, she cursed her lack of protection.

The man pulled out a long sword from his robes. Starting for Kahli, he raised the weapon for a downwards strike. His steps increased in speed until he was running.

Kahli waited until the last moment to roll out of the way to give her attacker less chance of anticipating the move. As it was, his swing caught the edge of her skirt and sliced it off. Rolling on her back, she kicked at his knee. Her blow missed its intended spot, but hit him in the crotch.

Eyes glowing in pain and rage, the figure slammed the blade down on her with a war cry. He quickly drew back the red stained blade and slammed it down again. Again and again he stabbed the blade through the body of the dying goa'uld.

In a last ditch effort, Kahli fired the ribbon device once more. This time the weapon had an effect upon the goa'uld attacking her.

His head snapped back with a wet crunch as the weak wave slammed in to him. Snapping his jaw back in to place, the goa'uld tore the scarf from his face. Growling, he glared upon the body of his enemy.

"You!" Then her head was cleaved from her body in a strike so hard it left the sword imbedded in the deck.

Adjusting his jaw, the goa'uld began to focus on healing the damage of a dislocated jaw bone. He quickly bent down and picked up the head. Wrapping it in the scarf, he stormed from the throne room.

A short time later the Ha'tak exploded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The nightly watch on the pyramid came to an abrupt end the sixth day of the eighth lunar cycle when the gate activated. For three days the pyramid was watched for any activity, for three days the pyramid stood empty. On the fourth day, it was decided that Martouf and Nebkeht would inspect the structure.

Martouf glanced about the inner chamber of the gate room. Dust had gathered since they had last been here and it would be required to be removed soon. Nervously, he stepped up to the DHD. He pressed the first symbol of the Tau'ri. It connected.

Quickly, he entered in the other six symbols. After the last one was in place, he glanced to Nebkeht.

The younger man gestured for him to continue.

Not needing any further encouragement, Martouf pressed his hand on the activation orb. The gate exploded in to life shocking them both in to jumping. Smiling, Martouf reached in to his bag and pulled out the radio. "People of the Tau'ri, please respond."

"This is General Hammond, who is speaking."

Lowering his head, Martouf let the awakening Lantash speak. "I am Lantash of the Tok'ra. It is good to hear your voice, General Hammond of the Tau'ri."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Begining the dialing sequence for his homeworld, Apophis glanced over his shoulder at his new first prime. With the assistance of this guard and his companions, he would soon be in control of his planet once more. From there, with the ships he had stolen from Cronus during his war with Nirrti, he would launch himself once more to the glory of System Lord.

He reached forward and pressed the red activation orb. The planet of Tarnus would be his next stopping point. Tonight's scouting party had proved they were ready for the harvesting of Jaffa and suitable hosts. "Take the prisoners through the gate. After they are made in to gods, we will come back for the rest."

"That will not happen." At the words, the gate shut down.

Immeadietly Apophis and his Jaffa were on guard. With the flash of multiple staff bursts, his guard and prisoners were all dead leaving him alone in the clearing. "Who is there?"

Coming out of the shadows of the the forest, a black hooded figure glanced up at Apophis with red eyes. "You know who I am. The question you should ask is when I will let you die."

Apophis raised his ribbon device to fire upon the goa'uld but was thrown back against the dias of the gate from a reciprocating blast.

Moving to get a better look of his fallen enemy, the goa'uld tilted his head. "I make one promise, you will see your home world one last time before you die, however long that takes." Gesturing for the red jaffa to pick up the fallen goa'uld, Sokar smiled his red teeth at Apophis. "Returning the favor is the least I can do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack glared at the retreating figure of the sixth replacement member of SG-1. This guy had barely lasted a week before he was relieved of his duties and kicked back to a grunt. He was beginning to wonder just where the hell these guys were coming from. So he lied about being an academic, Jack could have lived without one less nerd about. But the fact that the guy had called the goa'uld little more than bad tempered had settled it with Jack.

If you were going to be on his team, you had better take the damn thing seriously.

They each had their own flaws that made them unreliable and down right lethal on an SG team. Now he had the unenviable task of reading through the personnel files of sixty odd canidates for the spot left open on his team for a lenguist and archiologist. So far, no one who even remotely qualified mentally, was physically capable of withstanding the training necessary to pass muster.

You had to be a soldier at times and most of these geeks were just too lazy, fat, or just friggen loose headed to handle the fact that if they didn't get their butt in gear, they could cost the lives of their team mates. This was a war, and no ordinary geek would do. He needed a super geek, a Clark Kent. Someone smart enough to out wit a goa'uld, yet brauny enough to bench press Carter.

He needed another Daniel, but that was as likely as Teal'c kissing a snake.

For weeks, the damned Tok'ra had been pressing General Hammond and himself to allow one of their people on his team. That would settle the brains and the braun, but the people skills would be right out the window. The Tok'ra were too arrogant and assholeish to be of much use. Besides that, he didn't trust them. A snake was still a snake. But judging upon the files in front of him, one of them might be his only option.

Every person represented in these files was not only incompetent, they were also completely fucking worthless as far as he was concerned. If it was up to him, they would never even be considered. Give a prime example, the top file had a guy who had been arrested by the local authorities several times for violating no entry zones because he believed the discovery was too important. Each time he had been wrong.

Tossing that file in the trash, he checked out the next one. A Full Lieutenant with an exemplry record. She was spotless. Of course, that earned her a gold star in the books of the oversite committee at the SGC. In Jack's brain, that meant one of three things: she was anal about everything, aka a control freak; Slept her way through the process, whether she was qualified was beside the point in that case; she was an implant.

"Three strikes, your out!" Jack tossed her file in the trash.

The third file was no better than the previous two. Jack caught one look at the ugly mug of the man and tossed him in the trash too. You don't glare at a personnel photo if you want to make it. Appearance was everything on a first encounter mission.

The fourth foulder held some promise. He was a two doctorate linquist. He was in his early thirties, a geneal appearance and a good temper. The man held a black belt in two forms of martial arts and was working on his third in Tai Kwan Do. Jack was about to set him aside for further consideration when he noticed a special attachement file. Upon reading it, he tossed the man in the trash. "You refuse to fight outside of a ring, what the hell is wrong with you?"

His fifth chance would be the last file for today. She was a Captain. Her record had a few commondations, but also six marks against her attitude towards her superior officers. An attitude Jack approved of, he knew each of the men in question. If not for her attitude, she would have made major by now, he noted. She had a degree in linguistics and had served as a translator in the middle east.

A female translator in the middle east, that raised his eye brow. Then he noted why she was not still there and where three of her black marks came from. So she had a problem with patronizing males, he could handle that. Carter was the same way.

The Captain held many citations for her time serving as escourt and guide in many South American exploratory missions, both DEA and Archiological. That meant she was capable with both weapons and tools of the trade. She was starting to sound like the perfect replacement.

"Captain Croft, where have you been all my life?" Upon reaching the last page of her file, Jack swore. "Apparently on the run from authorities in the jungles of South-East Asia. Tomb robbing, not a smart choice of vacation time, Captain. Next!" He tossed her file in the trash.

Well, that was the last of his work for the day. Accept for the briefing they were having in a half hour to go over the goa'uld, everything else had been cleared from his schedule. He felt a wave of gratitude to the Asguard for the interuption, nothing like a little intergalactic diplomacy to remove annoying crap like dealing with Maybourne's attempt at remodelling level twenty-four to look like a set from some sci-fi show.

Sitting back in his chair, he began to spin it from side to side. He idly wondered if Lieutenant Astor had been escourted from the base yet. His plane for Greenland was leaving in twelve hours and his place had already been packed. Jack wanted that fool far away from his command.

"Frankly, sir, I don't consider them much more than a dog with distemper. Sure, they can be dangerous, but as long as you are well armed, they aren't much of a threat," Jack mocked. "Distemper this, you ignorant fuck!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Persius took a nervous breath. Standing in front of the holo imager, he cleared his throat and smiled at the gathered Tok'ra and SG personnel. He cast a furtive glance towards General Hammond before starting. "The Asguard have provided us with recent images of the three Goa'uld that will be attending the confrence in two days."

He waved a hand over the imager and the glass wall of the confrence room over looking the gate turned in to a freeze. The painted wall was of a battle scene, a goa'uld in white stood over the broken bodies of discernable black shapes. Hair thrown back in a striking pose, her image was designed to convey benevolent beauty.

"This is Bastet. She is one of three powerful Goa'uld queens. Do not let the image decieve, she is more blood thirsty than your average goa'uld. Her cunning has granted her more than one victory over her stronger opponents." Ignoring the expressions of everyone in the room. He waved a hand over the image. "She is partners with another queen named Kahli the Destroyer. Kahli is revered as the eternal form of Chaos, even amongst the goa'uld. Together they intend to rule the galaxy, any one who opposes them is little more than ash.

"While here, she will most likely attempt to gather as much information as possible. She will trick even the most cunning of opponents in to revealing their plans. Do not leave anyone around her unattended, keep talkative people from her." Persius waved his hand over the imager again and the image shifted from Bastet and Kahli to an oriental man.

Jack whistled at the strong pose the man effected. He was standing on the stone wall of a pogoda style castle arms in sleeves. Behind him were thousands of kneeling women. Each one a symbol of what he considered a hot momma. The castle was bedecked in dragons, which impressed him even further, he liked dragons.

"This is Lord Yu. Founding one of the longest lasting civilizations on your planet, he was believed to be a strong ruler. His rulings were fair, but his punishments harsh. His enemies barely lived to regret coming against him." Persius focused his attention on Jack "For your sake, do not anger him deliberately."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack was affronted. He knew he would do it just to spite the snake, but it wasn't like he would admit to one.

"It means that, right now, Yu is your best hope of maintaining your existance if this treaty is to go through. Lord Yu has no interest with the Tau'ri as his forces moved out of this part of the galaxy long ago. He is more likely to favor it." Turning his attention back to the others, Persius continued. "Lord Yu is strictly adherent to custom. You will bow to him when required, you refer to him only by his title. Do not call him a snake, he prefers to be refered to as The Dragon."

"Big surprise there."

"Colonel." Hammond's voice was tired. There was no way they were going to make it through this. His people were just too much.

"Sorry, sir." For his part, Jack was contrite.

Persius waved his hand over the imager to change the wall freeze. This time he didn't even look at it. He knew the image by heart now, he had studied it long enough. Taking a heart stopping breath, he swallowed sharply. "Um, this is the represenative of the queen, Nirrti. Nirrti is the strongest of the Goa'uld at the present time.

"Her forces have recently conquered those of two System Lords, the goa'uld Cronus and the goa'uld Baal. Both were considered canidates for the title of Supreme System Lord, left vacant when you killed Ra. Their deaths have spooked the rest of the System Lord Collective, and sparked a war unlike anything we have ever seen."

Jack waved his hand to get Persius' attention.

"Yes, Colonel?" Perius just knew this would be trouble.

"What about this represenative, he got a name? Any weaknesses we can exploit?" When Persius paused, Jack glanced at the picture again. The image was of a blue skinned man with black hair wearing little to disguise the fact he was a man. In his hands were the heads of his enemies and the tools he used to sever them. "Looks kinda mean to me."

"There are no weaknesses to exploit." Persius stared Jack down, his face completely blank. "He is largely responcible for the deaths of both goa'uld. Both offered him surrender as he bombarded their worlds. Baal he had ripped apart piece by piece by ants. Cronus was torture mercilessly for a week before he died in a ship explosion. Had he not died then, he would have been handed over to Nirrti for further torture."

"And his name?"

"Our reports say the commander of her armies and represenative, is named Jolinar." Grinding his teeth, he tilted his head a little up. "You can understand why I am reluctant to reveal the name."

The room went silent.

Clearing his throat, Hammond sat forward. "Yes. That is a difficult thing to accept. When you are ready, we can continue this briefing."

"I am ready now." Waving his hand over the viewer, Persius changed the image to another freeze of Daniel. This time, the freeze showed his blue painted skin coated in blood from the severed heads. "Nirrti is most proud of her offspring. She trusts him enough to send him in her place. Do not believe that because he is not one of the System Lords, he is easier handle. Quite the contrary, Jolinar is completely loyal to his mother, nothing he can say or do will change that."

"Why's that?" This time Jack was prepared. He didn't care what the others thought, he was going to pump this snake for all information.

"That is a delicate subject..."

"I don't care. Tell me why this Jolinar is unable to think for himself."

"He is able to think, that is the damnedable problem!" Persius, surprised by his own outburst, composed himself quickly. "Jolinar, like all goa'uld, was born to a queen. It is these queens that decide the personality of the Goa'uld or Tok'ra that is born to them. They decide what memories, what thoughts, what feelings the offspring will have to start out with and base their life around. It is why we of the Tok'ra are who we are, our mother decided we would be this and nothing else. We may change our perceptions, but we are always haunted by the programming of our mother."

"Our mother held back on the memories of atrocities our ancestors committed against your people. What she gave us was the decision to respect our hosts and ourselves." Anise, who was sitting next to Major Carter, snorted at the disbelief written on Jack's face. "Believe what you wish, Colonel. If it were not true, you would most likely be dead by now."

"Enough." At the foot of the table, surrounded by body guards, Selmac glared at the bickering people with contempt. "Not all queens are as dominating as Egaria and Nirrti, who imprint their chosen personality on their children. Others, like my queen, believed in just creating as many offspring to secure her usefulness as were needed. Personality was our own to decide, that is if we lived long enough to fully mature and require a host. The point is that Nirrti's child can not be used against his mother."

"Very well." Gathering up his papers, Hammond leaned over the table. "We all know this is going to be difficult. Those of you remaining on the base study your materials, if you have any questions, see the Tok'ra. We have two days, people, don't screw this up. Dismissed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Garshaw glared at her captors through the bars of her cell. So far, they had only interogated them on who they were and what they were doing here. The fact that they were stranded and the crashed ship to prove it had netted them a cozy cell instead of further interogation. That and the fact she was a damned good liar, as Paul was wont to say.

It was a damn sight more comfortable than the frozen cargo hold had been, only little better than the tunnels. Warm bed, food, fresh water and toiletries. They had lived in a guilded cage for the past three and a half months.

Any attempts at finding out who was holding them had lead to a sharp rebuke. What she had found out was the lack of goa'uld presence here. It was like this entire encampment was being manned by Jaffa and priests. What that said about them, she wasn't sure, just that it was highly unusual.

The symbols on the heads of the guard was also no help. Those that they could see when their helmets were down were of a variety of goa'uld. Ranging from Cronus, to Serpent guard. She had even seen a former Horus guard. Whoever had brought them here was indiscriminate.

When her cell door opened, she glanced over to see Paul being brought in. His scar had all but disappeared with the help of their healing devices. She still hadn't been able to figure out how his primta had healed itself inside his body. That was a matter for other times, right now they had a plan to enact.

Grabbing her pillow loaded with rocks and crystal fragments she had gathered during her walks, she swung it around as Paul had showed her and slammed it over the head of the guard. Even with his metal skull cap, he dropped like a ton of bricks. Smirking at Paul, she weighted the bag. "Perhaps you were correct in your acessment that we could have left a week ago."

"I told you so." Grabbing his own pillow, he spun it a few times and smiled at her. "After you, Madam."

"You know, I have studied your vernacular and have come to the conclusion I do not like it when you call me that." As she ran down the cooridor, him at her side, she glared at him. They reached the end of the golden hall and activated the door release for the other cells. "Am I right in assuming it is a vulgar term among your people?"

"Among the french it means the title of a woman." At her look, he snickered. "But I'm not french."

"I assumed as much." She hit the controls to free her fellow operatives from their cells and headed for the door. "We must hurry, the guard was alone, but will be missed soon."

"Great. Nothing like a skin of your teeth get away to give it that extra special feeling of being alive." Poking his head around the corner, Paul breathed a sigh of relief. "All clear."

"Then we are free to move on. Come on." Garshaw took the lead as they headed down the cooridor. They came around another bend and had to stop. "This is as far as they allowed me to penetrait their security. I am unfamiliar with this lay out, Major, you will have to show us the rest."

"Me? I seduced the asshole that gave me the tour so suddenly I am the guide now?" At the grumbling looks of the four Tok'ra, he glared. "Fine. But next time someone's ass is peddled, I volunteer Aldwin. He's prettier than I am." Paul took the lead, keeping an eye out for further guard activity. "Something isn't right here, there should be guards coming along by now."

"Perhaps your sexual deceptions were not as successful as you thought." Aldwin suddenly found himself with a faceful of angry Tau'ri. "Major?"

"I am better at sexual espionage than you will ever be. When I say something isn't right, something isn't right." Releasing the man, Paul turned back to the hall. "The gate room is just down that cooridor." Unconsciously, he rubbed at his gut as the primta could sense the naquadah of the gate. "There should be three guards inside."

"Very well, we can take it from here." Garshaw used a hand signal for the other three Tok'ra to flank her and watch her back, rock filled pillows at the ready. When they reached the door, they turned the serpent symbol to activate the lock. Once inside, they froze.

A large long range communications device was in the center of the gate, upon it the image of a black garbed Goa'uld was speaking. Surrounding it were all the missing guards and priests.

Staring down upon the people, the goa'uld's eyes flashed white. "Ready our forces. Soon, the time to strike back at our enemies will be upon us."

"Oh brother." Paul's words caused the collective to turn and stare at the not quite escaped prisoners.

"Seize them!"

"Fucking big mouthed Tau'ri!"

"Garshaw!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The senior staff of the SGC, Command Council of the Tok'ra, and two dozen of Teal'c's guard stood at the base of the gate ramp as the wormhole exploded in to life. Standing in dress uniforms, the Military and the Guard presented a unified front. Off to their side were the Tok'ra, their faces set in various stages of boredem to hide their true reactions to the goings on. Their uneasy shifting began the moment the three silohets appeared in the wormhole before the goa'uld stepped through.

First through was Bastet, she took in the sight of the gathered and snorted. "Pathetic." Her customary black leather vest and skirt were replaced with a black Jaffa uniform right down to the helmet collar.

To her right, Yu stepped through, his reaction was a nuetral nod toward the Tau'ri. He spared the Tok'ra a glare that promised retribution. Adjusting his robes, he folded his arms.

To Bastet's left the third figure stepped through the gate. Hair carefully arranged to hide half his face, Daniel used it to keep his attention off the Tok'ra. His skin was dyed blue to match the freeze, another precaution he had taken to hide the identity of his host. He could kill his mother for making him come here, being here was the last thing he needed. If word slipped that he was a Tok'ra operative, this would all end in blood.

Carefully composing his face to show the rage over events, he glard down upon the Tau'ri. "Take us to your leaders."

Jack snorted at the words. "Some how that isn't what I was expecting."

Stepping forward, General Hammond gestured to himself. "I am in charge of this base. Myself, my second in command and the Ambassador from my superiors will be conducting the negotiations for our side."

"You can negotiate all you want, it will make no difference." Stepping in front of Daniel, Bastet tossed her hair in his face. "We have already decided your fate."

Daniel shoved her forward hard enough for her to fall face first on the ramp and roll down to rest at the foot. Moving with purpose, he stopped just shy of stepping on her. He put a foot on her back when she tried to stand. Smiling at General Hammond, he crushed her back down. "You have three days in which to convince the System Lord Collective that you pose no serious threat. Fail, and your world will suffer the consequences."

"Of course. Colonel." Not breaking eye contact with Jolinar, Hammond summoned Jack to his side. "Show the represenatives to their quarters."

"As you wish, sir. If you will follow me." Not looking back to see if they were, Jack headed for the exit. A nod to Teal'c had five of the guard following him.

Daniel stepped on Bastet as he stepped over her. Following Jack through the base, he felt a twinge of recognition. "I've been here before."

"Hmm?" Jack raised and eyebrow as he looked over his shoulder. "What was that?"

"Nothing, Jack. Lead away." His responce got him a harder look. Flashing his eyes at the Tau'ri, Daniel glared. "Move or be stepped upon."

Yu stood idly by watching them with amusement. Having stepped upon Bastet too, he felt much better than he had since he learned of this exercise in futility four days ago. Granting the Asguard wish that he come had set him in a foul mood that had not boded well for the Tau'ri. Perhaps there was amusement yet.

Jack continued on down the cooridors towards the VIP section. The halls and rooms had been decked out in wall hangings and torches to replace the modern features for the comfort of the Goa'uld. If it had been up to him, they would have been rotting in a cell waiting for interogation. Coming around to the final corner, he entered the long hall of VIP suits. "Here we are, children, home sweet home." Coming to the first room, he opened the door and gestured for Daniel to enter. "Sorry, it doesn't have HBO, but I hear the meditation candles and shrine to your mother are to die for."

"If they are desecrated, you will." Shouldering passed Jack, Daniel entered the room. Taking in his surroundings, he huffed. "This is not fit for swine."

"Too bad, take it or leave it." Closing the door, Jack gave it an extra slam.

"Smart ass." Raising a hand to his face, Daniel was about to touch his temple when he heard a wirring in the corner behind him. Spinning around, he tossed his bag at it. The camera fell from the ceiling, hanging only by the wires. In a boute of rage at almost being caught, he ripped it from the ceiling. Daniel opened the door, saw Jack glaring at him and tossed the offending object at his head.

Jack dropped to the floor to avoid being hit. "What the fuck?"

"I will not be spied upon!" Slamming the door, Daniel's fingers automatically triggered the lock. He quickly did a search for anymore monitoring devices and found two listening bugs. Crushing them, he drowned them in water.

When he was reasonably sure there were no more, he quickly reached a hand up to his temple. He pressed deeply until he heard a click. The moment it clicked, the blue on his face disolved in to his natural pale complexion. The sudden loss of dye in his skin made the dermis itch and he began scratching at it until the feeling subsided. By the time he was through his braids were half undone.

Completely unweaving the braids, Daniel shook out the curly hair until it frizzed about him. He knew that the first meeting would begin soon, but he had to get out of this annoying outfit. Slipping free of the travel bag, he dropped it to the floor. Next to come off was the silk shirt and shawl. After he dropped them to the floor, he reached down to undo the scarab broach on his pants.

Warm fingers on his made him pause. The familiar scent of their owner hit his nostrils and Daniel leaned back in to the firm arms. "How long had you been hiding in the closet?"

Kissing Daniel's ear, Martouf blew slowly over the moist skin. "How did you know that is where I hid?"

"I inspected the room. Your presence in the closet did not go unnoticed." Daniel tilted his head to expose more of his neck for Martouf. His breath hitched when sharp teeth nipped at the skin. "Until you had come out, I thought you a spy. You are lucky I was in a good mood, I might have damaged you."

There was a moment when Martouf let the fear run through him before he continued kissing on Daniel's neck down to his collar bone, bringing their bodies flush. Running his hands down the other man's sides, he massaged the flesh over his hips. "I have missed you so much, Jolinar, each moment has been an agony without you?"

"Which of you missed me more, Lantash or Martouf?" The calloused fingers tightened on his hips and shoved the waist band of his pants down until it rest above his thighs. Daniel gasped in pain from the strain of them on his hips, knowing they would leave bruises.

"I have." Martouf bit the flesh hard enough to draw blood before pushing Daniel forward. He prevented the man from moving away, by holding his hips sternly. Kissing down Daniel's back, he left a trail of bite marks along his spine. Each time Daniel arched away from his touch, he nipped the flesh. "I was foolish to let the fact you were not Rosha come between us."

"Yes, you were." He tried to step away again only to have his pants jerked down completely. Shivering in chilled base air, Daniel wrapped his arms about his torso. "Leave me, Martouf."

"Not again." Voice deeping, Martouf let his goa'uld heritage echo. "This time I will not let you go, Jolinar. The first time was a mistake, allow me to make it up to you."

"Can you accept the fact that I am not Rosha, that I will never be her?" When no responce came, Daniel forcefully removed Martouf's hands from his body and stepped away. Daniel forced himself to remain cold. "I think you had better go."

"Jolinar." Forcing his host to move, Lantash crawled towards Daniel. Staring up at him, he reached out and caught Daniel's ankle. "The host is lost, but I still care for you. He has no idea how to overcome his prejudices and loss, however, I am trying to help him. Please, do not toss away all we have built between us over this."

"I am not the one! Either he accepts me as I am, or there is nothing to hold on to." He wanted to reach out, to place his hands against the gruff skin of his lover's face. The pain in Martouf's eyes stole the last of the warmth in him. Instead, Daniel reached out and slapped Martouf across the face. "Do you have any idea the suffering I have gone through this past year? The one thing I had in my existance I could completely depend upon was you, and now all you can offer me is a pathetic excuse of an apology."

Martouf clutched his cheek, shock written upon his features. "Why?"

"My eyes see more than you think. I hope this host's wife was worth it!" Grabbing the Tok'ra by the collar, Daniel dragged him to the door. "Go back to your wife and child, don't you ever treat me like your whore again!"

Martouf tried to free himself of the mad grip but found himself only tossed end over end in to the cooridor. By the time he had righted himself, the door had been slammed in his face and bolted shut. Trying the handle invain, he slammed his fist against it. "Jolinar! Please, let me explain! Jolinar."

"What is the matter, your man hood fail you?" Standing in the middle of her doorway, Bastet smirked at Martouf. The guards standing along the corridor were the only things that kept them apart.

Standing, Martouf adjusted his clothes in to order. "The good will of the Tau'ri is the only reason you still breathe."

"And you as well, traitor." Stepping up closer to him, Bastet's eyes flared in anger. "It is only a matter of time before we discover your location and blow out the candle that is the Tok'ra."

"I will see your head upon the speers." A cleared throat made Martouf take a step back. Snorting in the direction of the goa'uld, he stalked off.

Bastet watched him go until he disappeared around the bend in the corridor. Crossing her arms, she smirked at the door of her enemy. "So the rumors are true. Seems you have been making a few friends."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three goa'uld were sat on one side of the three sided table, Yu in the center, Daniel on his right, and Bastet on his left. On the second side, General Hammond sat in the center with Colonel O'Niell on his right and Ambassador Thompson in the left. At the third panel, a seat had been beamed down, but so far the Asguard had yet to make an appearance.

Jack checked his watch again with an agitated sigh. Seeing that it had been fifteen minutes since they arrived, he glanced over at the Asguard seat. To his amazement, the Asguard appeared as if summoned by his thoughts. "About time."

"I was unavoidably detained..." the Asguard's words were cut off as a hole appeared in his chest. His body rocked twice more before he slumped down in his chair.

For a moment, the room sat in stunned silence.

Standing up from the table, Daniel smirked at the weapon in his hand. "Crude, yet effective." Dropping the gun on the table, he placed a hand against his chest and disappeared. The next instant, Bastet's head disappeared and her body slid down in her seat. A moment later the door opened and slammed shut.

Hammond jumped from his seat as Jack rushed around for the emergency phone. Moving around to reach for Thor, he was shocked when the body disappeared in a white flash. "Jack, lock down the base!"

"I can't, sir, the phone in this room is dead!" Rushing for the door, he tried the handle. "Damn it!" On a thought, Jack reached in to his back pocket for the Asguard communicator. "Anyone up there, can you hear me?" Jack felt the sinking feeling in his stomach increase as the communicator went dead. "Oh shit!"

Sirens flooded the room as the red warning lights started swishing. "Unauthorized gate activation!"

"Colonel, get this door open!" General Hammond came around the table to glare at said offending object.

"Unless you got some magic lock pick, sir, I got nothin!"

"Step aside." Yu picked up the gun. After examining it, he took aim at the handle. He didn't wait for the Tau'ri to comply before he squeezed the trigger.

"Hey! Watch it with that thing!" Jack fingered the hole in his uniform caused by the shrapnel.

"Come on, Colonel!" Slapping his second on the shoulder, Hammond pulled the door open. Before he stepped through, he turned to the goa'uld. "I suggest you stay here. For your protection." Turning to Yu, he smiled. "Thank you."

Yu nodded once.

Hammond was the first out of the door. Turning to look for the guard he found them both dead on the floor, their neck's snapped. Considering how fast the goa'uld was moving, he thought it probably took only a fraction of a second to kill them before the snake had moved on. He stepped over them, they would have to deal with them later.

Rushing down the hall, he came upon the next call box junction and found it also inactive. "What the hell is going on?" Hammond glanced over to the security sensor and found the red lights off. "The security system is down! Get up to the command office and find out how the hell that happened."

"Aye, sir!" Jack saluted once before rushing off down the hall.

The General moved off down the corridor to the gate room. He had to go down two flights of stairs. By the time he reached the gate level, he was gasping for air. His labored steps and breathing increased as he rounded the corridor for the control room. What he saw made him stop dead in his tracks.

Bodies littered the control room.

The door to the control room was blocked open by the bodies of two men, one he recognized as the leader SG-3. Coming at them slowly, he searched for any weapon. The bodies had been left intact, their weapons still in the holster. George realized no one had the time to react, much less draw their weapon before they were killed.

Sighing, he put them out of his mind and entered the control room. The blast doors were closed and the dialing computer was down. Reaching up to the mic, he pressed the speaker function. "Security to the gate room. Medical team to the control room!" Releasing it, he fell back in the chair Walter should have been sitting in.

George ran a hand down his face as he took in the total carnage of the room. One of the lieutenants had been slammed against the computer banks, that explained the dialing computers being off line. It also meant that the goa'uld might still be on the base. That was put to rest when he heard the tell tale noise of the gate shutting down.

He was still sitting there in shock when Jack and the security team arrived.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nirrti came upon her offspring standing over a holo imager in a darkened room. The image that played before her was new to her, but the images involved sent a thrill of fear down her spine. "What is the meaning of this?"

"War, mother." Daniel gestured to the image of six goa'uld mother ships surrounding an Asguard mother ship. As they watched, the mother ships opened fire on the Asguard vessel and in a few seconds reduced it to debris.

Staring at Jolinar in shock, she took a step back and reached for her Zat-nic-atel. "What have you done?"

"What should have been done a long time ago." Not looking at her, he waved a hand through the image and it disappeared. "As I have told you incessantly, the goa'uld have grown fat and lazy, the time to cull their numbers has come." Daniel clapped his hands twice and waited by the table at the center of the room.

A moment later, two Jaffa entered carrying a large metal box. They set the box on the table, bowed to both goa'uld, then turned and exited.

"I did as you instructed, the annoyance that was Thor has been eliminated." Smiling, Daniel gestured at the box. "A gift for you."

Suspiciously, Nirrti moved to the table. She set down the Zat-nic-atel and picked up the lid of the metal box. Setting it aside, she glanced inside. "Impressive."

"I thought you would like them." Moving away from her, Daniel turned his back to her. "Consider it my thank you present. Without your help, I wouldn't have been able to complete my plans."

Nirrti glanced up sharply, however, the room was empty. Looking back to the box, she smiled down upon the heads of Kahli and Bastet. Raising an eyebrow, she flicked the lock of blood encrusted hair from her sister's face. "You should never have changed your host, sister."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In orbit of Chu'lak, a single Tel'tac exited hyperspace. Heading for the atmosphere, the occupants missed the Ha'tak that appeared behind it. The Ha'tak opened fire on the planet, sending blasts down like rain until the entire planet was covered.

The Tel'tac jumped orbit to avoid the blasts. It's path and trajectory sent it tumbling further in to the solar system. Inside the cockpit of the out of control ship, the occupents could only watch as Chu'lak's surface was irradiated until it glowed as bright as the sun.

In his throne room aboard the Ha'tak, Sokar gazed down upon the remains of the planet. He glanced over his shoulder at the goa'uld being held captive by his guard. "I swore to let you witness the destruction of your home before you died." Smiling, he nodded at the red guards to apply the pain stick to his back.

Apophis fell to his knees screaming from the pain, eyes and mouth glowing from the shock of the pain stick. When the guard released him, he fell forward on the deck, shaking from shot nerves. By the time he was able to open his eyes, Sokar was standing above him.

Looking down his nose at the fallen goa'uld, a smile slowly spread across his features. He raised the muzzel of the staff weapon and pointed it at Apophis' face. "Now you will die.... many times." Before he could fire, his ship rocked. "Who has opened fire upon us?"

"My lord, there is a larger vessel approaching!" Saluting Sokar, the first prime bowed his head before being thrown from his feet by the rocking of the ship.

Hissing his displeasure, Sokar braced himself against another blast. "Sound the alert, we are attacking!" Another blast knocked him off his feet and rocked the ship. "Prepare to fire!"

In the far corner of the thrown room, the long range communication's device clouded over then resolved itself in to the image of Nirrti. "Your ship has violated my territory. Surrender and I will be lenient."

The ship rocked three more times before Sokar could regain his footing. "Retreat! Sound the retreat!"

From the Tel'tac, the two Tok'ra watched in shock as Sokar's mother ship left without firing a single blast, being chased by Nirrti's controled Ha'tak until both disappeared in hyperspace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The stargate shut down with a audible hiss leaving the Tok'ra's footsteps upon the gate ramp the only sound in the gate room. Martouf's grimace was the only reaction on their faces. Leading the group, Martouf stepped foward to meet with General Hammond. "General Hammond, I am pleased, yet wary to announce that the fleets of both Yu and Bastet will not be on their way to attack your planet as feared."

Stunned, Hammond breathed a sigh of relief. "Just where are they?"

"I am afraid that is the bad news. The combined fleets of twelve goa'uld, including those of Yu and Bastet, have been amassed under the banner of one goa'uld. A goa'uld who until now was believed dead by the System Lord Collective, his name is Sokar." The visible reaction of the Jaffa behind the General let Martouf know that the legends had suvived among the guard. "After Sokar takes complete control of the Goa'uld, the Tau'ri will be his next target."

"After, you mean with all those ships he still isn't the number one guy?" Nothing pleased Jack more than to dig in under the Tok'ra's skin. The guy had dared show his face around the SGC again and now he was doing in all his power to make the bastard's time here miserable.

Martouf was well aware of Jack's opinion. Not giving the man the satisfaction of getting flustered, he merely nodded. "Not as of yet. The Goa'uld Nirrti has proved to be extremely resistant to his invasion. Despite his superior armada, she has the more advanced technology on her side. With numbers against superior technology, they are evenly matched. If they were to continue, one or both would eventually fall under the strain of disappearing resources.

"But that is beside the point. The reason I am here is to warn you. Once one of them wins, they will complete their victory by eliminating all enemies. That means neither of our two peoples will be safe, and without the Asguard treaty to protect us, it is only a matter of when."

"Great, so we're doomed, nothing new there." Jack started to turn around but the General cleared his throat and Jack stayed. "What?"

"We have a few other things to discuss, Colonel, if you would care to join us. Just in case, that is an order, Jack." Hammond gestured toward the side door of the gate room. "If you will follow me, Ambassador."

"Of course." Martouf smirked at Jack. He knew his new title only served to make the man angrier. In passing the younger man, he could tell the Colonel was grinding his teeth. It made the meeting that was going to happen that much easier to bare.

They soon came up the stairs to the briefing room, Hammond shutting and locking the door. When he took his seat, all three sat down. "Well, gentlemen, as soon as the other concerned party arrives, I will begin."

"Other party, sir?" Jack's eyebrows went skyward. Cloak and dagger routines were generally left to the guys who had something to hide. "Who else did you invite, Satan?"

"Hi, Jack!"

"Oh, god." A shiver went down the Colonel's spine as he saw Harry enter the briefing room from the General's office.

"The president says he agrees with your asessment, General. The new bureau for the drawing room should be mahagony to go along with the old furniture." Taking a seat across from jack, Harry Maybourne smirked at his counterpart. "You seem to be a little pale this morning, Jack, something the matter?"

"Yeah, I'm suddenly feeling nasueous, General, may I be excused?"

"No, you may not." Taking the brief case from Harry, Hammond set it on the table and opened it. He pulled out a large manilla foulder and set it on the table. Opening it, he pulled out briefing packets and passed them to the other men. "These are not to leave this table unless they are back in this foulder in this brief case. What you are seeing are pictures of the security system being compromised by an individual with knowledge of the base.

"As you know, the goa'uld were here for less than six hours before things went to hell. That was a week ago. Since then, we have uncovered new information on how the base was compromised." Putting down the foulder, Hammond pushed it to Martouf. "I believe you know this individual better than the rest of us."

Martouf stared down at gray photos of himself being thrown out of Daniel's room. Sighing, he nodded. "Yes, I know him."

"It has been proven he has phase shifting technology by one of the surviving Nox. As far as we knew, there was only group of people with that technology aside from the Nox, the Tok'ra. Care to explain how this individual came to possess your technology?" Hammond's tone brokered no room for double talk.

"That is because it is not our technology. We obtained it from the goa'uld Nirrti." Pushing the foulder back to the General, Martouf allowed Lantash to take control. "Sadly, the operative that delivered us this technology was killed along side a member of our council, two other operatives, and your previous Ambassador in a mission to retrieve him and vital information he posessed."

"That explains one part, but not how you know this individual personally. Don't bother to deny it, we have a guard who swore he heard the goa'uld yell you were never to use him as your whore again." Grabbing the foulder, Harry tossed a photo of Daniel's hair covered face at Martouf. "Pretty convenient we never got a good look at his face. Though I must say his body is remarkable, for a goa'uld that is. Then again, you people pride yourselves on your beauty, don't you."

"I am not a goa'uld!" Seeing the resolved faces of the three Tau'ri, Martouf blew out a breath in anger. "He and I were once intimate. Any future we had together ended when he betrayed the Tok'ra to his mother and killed one of our operatives."

"That and the fact he found out you are married." Chewing on jerky stick, Harry rocked in his chair from side to side. His eyes sparkled in mirth. "I wondered if there was a difference between us, aside from the snake in the head and I guess I got my answer." Looking to General Hammond, he nodded. "I am satisfied that he knows nothing further. He hasn't been back among his own people long enough to have betrayed base secrets to the goa'uld. That he knew the snake behind our security breach was just an unhappy coincidence. Damned convenient, but still just a coincidence."

"Very well. We will proceed on the belief that the goa'uld was acting alone. That still leaves us with the problem of how much did he learn before escaped through the gate? I have ordered security checks on the entire base for sabotage and a new security program installed. I never want to have to deal with this large of a breech again, gentlemen."

Martouf cleared his throat to get their attention. "General, the High Council would like to know what the reaction of the Asguard has been to all of this?"

Feeling all emotion drain from him, Hammond sunk a little in his chair. "We don't know. Laia has tried contacting them, but she has gotten no responce. We believe a war between the goa'uld and the Asguard will most likely be the result, something they can barely aford."

"The Asguard would win the war, sir." At the look shared between the other three men, Martouf frowned. "Why would they not?"

"The goa'uld are many, it would take a great deal of effort and time to eliminate the threat. Factor in they are from another galaxy and they have other matters, a war is not in their best interest." Harry finished with a bite of his jerky. "It would be like you trying to fight your way out of this room. You might eventually get out, but not before we did some serious damage."

Martouf glared at him. "I understand."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nirrti glared down upon the stellar maps showing the most recent battles. Victories for her were in gold and victories for Sokar were in black. So far the gold and the blacks were even, and that was the source of her rage. Pouring over the star charts, she growled over the loss of her number one weapon. After delivering to her the heads of her enemies, Jolinar had disappeared. That had been a month ago and now she was ready to strangle the wayward offspring of hers.

She needed him to take command of the fleet in the Nubas sector. Sokar's ships had won too many victories there for it to be a coincidence. In a fit of anger, she knocked the maps from the table.

Her Generals backed away in fear. If they didn't find a way to appease her soon, it would be their deaths that amused her.

Gathering up the downed maps, General Kulang set them back on the table. If someone hadn't done it, they would have most likely have been beatin for it. He was about to set it down on the table when he noticed a large sector in the center of the battle fronts where neither goa'uld had marked as their own. "Forgive me, goddess, but have you noticed this?"

Turning her sour gaze upon him, she stepped over to grab his forehead with her ribbon device. Just as she was about to reach out, she caught sight of what he was talking about. "That sector is protected by the Asguard. If you paid attention, you would know this!"

"But, my goddess, as you know, the Asguard have not retaliated for the death of their supreme fleet commander. Why would they care for the protection of this one planet?" He cringed under her gaze. "I mean no disrespect, I am merely curious." When the blow did not come, he opened his eyes to see her holding the chart.

"Use our ships at Ragnar, sneak through that sector and destroy his supply lines across the border. If you survive Ragnar is yours." Tossing the chart at him, she ignored his quivering bulk and turned for her chamber doors. "If Jolinar is found, bring me his head."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sokar screamed his anger, kicking the red guard who brought the information of the attack across the room. Slamming his fist in to his throne, he sat down and seethed. "Launch every vessel in that area towards the Asguard Sector. I want those ships destroyed and their leader skinned alive!"

"There is more, my lord." A second red guard was quicker to avoid his master's anger, dodging the blow that came his way. "We lost all contact with our fleets in the dalsunion sector. With out the supplies, Nirrti's forces will be able to over come them in a matter of days."

Standing once more, Sokar descended the steps of his thrown to come and stand in front of his first prime. "Recall all ships. We launch for the Asguard sector immeadietly. I want her to suffer!"

"Yes, my lord!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My goddess, the fleet from Ragnar was unsuccessful!" Striding in to the the Council Chamber, the General bowed his head towards Nirrti. "General Kulang and all his fleet were surprised by a fleet already lying in wait for him on the edge of the Asguard System. From the reports, all ships were lost and Ragnar is no more."

Crushing the glass in her hand, Nirrti glared at the man. "Then we will simply have to correct the incompetence of our fallen, foolish man." Sprinking the broken glass and blood splatters on the floor, she turned her attention back to the young man on her left. "It appears your fortune has been bountiful. We will move against him as one."

Klor'el's eyes flashed his satisfaction. "I will serve you well, my queen."

Taking his cheek in her bloody palm, Nirrti pulled his face close. The moment the he was close enough, she pressed her lips to his. She pulled back smiling as his pupils dilated from the drug. "Prove your worth, and I will return you all that is yours and more."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daniel sat at the center of the chamber, his attention on the holo imager showing the Asguard protected planet. To his right stood Malik, on his left stood Aldwin. In the image, several points of light appeared from all directions and converged on the planet. Another series of light soon followed. Smiling, Daniel crossed his arms. "Now you will see the true extent of my plan."

Across from them stood Garshaw. Her face a mask of barely controled rage. "What do you hope to accomplish with all this? Is your wish for death that strong?"

"You are a child, born after the game had already started." Cocking his head, Daniel glanced to Malik. "Each of you were pawns, to be played in concert that you would ensure chaos amongst the goa'uld. You were never part of the real war."

"What are you going on about?" Standing beside Garshaw, Paul glared at Daniel. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"This host was revived by your friends. If they lied to you about that, don't complain to me, I'm busy." Rising from his chair, Daniel walked towards the holo imager. "In war, there are no rules accept survival. You give it all or you will lose it all. That is something the goa'uld have forgotten and I must remind them of."

"So you keep saying. When is this lesson you are going to teach them start?" Paul couldn't keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"Very soon." Raising his hand to his other wrist, Daniel stopped near the holo imager. "Twenty-two hundred years ago we came together in hopes of conquering the goa'uld. Your mother was a party to this and knew that if we succeeded, all future goa'uld would be of her line. However, too late we realized one of our number had been betrayed and our plans would fail. We decided to carry on even though it meant our deaths. You were created to ensure the survival of our legacy.

"The Goa'uld defeated us, like we knew they would, and I returned when I felt sufficient time had passed." Holding his wrist, Daniel snorted. "For the last two thousand years I have watched the goa'uld fight amongst themselves. Their pathetic bickering served only to enhance my hatred of them and I swore to eliminate them once and for all.

"On my last mission, I was pushed beyond physical endurance until Rosha begged me to make it all go away. I caused the host's heart to give out just so it would end. I should have known it would never be over that quickly." He ground his teeth in rage while he continued to watch the holo image. Several ships had started towards the planet while others had moved off to engage the enemy. "She was weak. Her mind could not handle the stress of being killed and revived in a sarcophagus repeatedly for two days, let alone the entire week I was in his clutches. After two days, she was a mindless, shrieking harpy that I was forced to endure along side the agony of Cronus' interogations. When I finally killed her, it was over too quickly for me to derive any sense of satisfaction for having broken under his pathetic attempts."

"You are a goa'uld."

Daniel shifted his attention over to Garshaw. "Yes. I always have been. That you choose to believe we are anything but is a lie on your part. Our hosts are there to serve us, not the other way around. There is one difference between me and them, though. I chose my host on willingness, not vanity. Whether they believed I was a god or an alien that could enhance their lives, it didn't matter. It was always their choice."

"You will die for this, traitor." Garshaw tugged at the anklet that chained her to the floor, but couldn't get any further. "The Tok'ra will see you dead!"

"But not before I get my revenge!" Daniel's eyes flared white as several more ships appeared on the screen. "It appears the Asguard have arrived. Time to get this show on the road. Aldwin, Malik, let's go!" He waited until the two Tok'ra were at his side before he pressed the control gem. "Wish me luck, campers."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Nirrti's mother ship, she watched over her long range communication's device as ships from her fleet under the command of Klor'el engaged Sokar's fleet. His ships out numbered hers three to one but that was easily over come with the modifactions she had installed. Over fifty Alkesh equipt with the phase cloaks were moving in to position to take out a large portion of his fleet.

Leaning forward in her seat, she smiled. "How long?"

"Two minutes!" The General coordinating the attack sat off to her left over a holo imager of his own. "They are having to manuever around the planet's gravitation field."

"Get them in place, the Asguard have arrived!" Much to her horror, twelve Asguard mother ships appeared around the planet from hyperspace, including one off her bow. "Are the weapons ready?"

"Yes, my goddess."

Nirrti sat back in her seat and folded her arms. "Then destroy that ship!"

"As you wish!" The General at the helm of her weapons signaled the fleet to fire on the Asguard mother ship. Grinning, he fired their own weapons.

The Asguard mother ship rocked from the impact but her shields held. Lashing out with the beam weapon, she destroyed two of the goa'uld Ha'tak.

"Keep firing!" Nirrti clutched the arm rests of her throne as the ship rocked from the beam weapons hitting the shields. Hair falling in her face, she wrenched it back viciously, pulling out several strands. "I want that ship destroyed! Launch all death gliders, tell them to ram the Asguard vessel!"

Another beam hit the ship's shields and the power fluctuated.

The General beside Nirrti raised his head quickly. "The Alkesh are in position!"

"Give them the signal!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aboard their own ship, Daniel watched the resulting explosions with amusement. A third of Sokar's fleet gone in an instant. "So that's where I get it from." The rest of the fleets were embroiled in a fight against each other and the Asguard. Placing a hand in the command console, Daniel concentraited. Twin red pillars rose up on either side of the console.

"Malik, activate the weapons. Aldwin, signal the gate commanders. Tell them to start dialing now." Daniel closed his eyes as he felt the fleet answer his commands. Focusing on directing his ships, he moved the first fleet in to position. "Are the weapons armed?"

"Yes, Jolinar. I am activating the second set as we speak." At his console, Malik pressed the activation symbols for the bombs.

Aldwin picked up the hand sphere and turned it on. When the face of his contact appeared, he nodded. "Let it begin! Priority targets first."

Daniel felt a rush of pleasure fill him at the other's words. Narrowing his eyes in concentration, he sneered at the holo imager. "I have a little surprise for you!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the planet of Olympus, home of the goa'uld Zeus, the gate sprang to life. The Jaffa watching over the stone circle raised their staff weapons as something spherical rolled through the event horizon. Coming to a stop at the top of the dias, the sphere screeched. The tone increased in volume until the Jaffa had to clutch their ears from the pain.

A moment later the sphere exploded.

In orbit of the planet the Ha'tak known only as Zeus' charriot watched for a moment as the entire planet disappeared in a flash before being swallowed by the blast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the barren world of Chu'lak, the gate activated. A similar sphere rolled through and down the steps. It came to a rest where the DHD used to be. Like on Olympus, the sphere started to screech in to ear splitting decibals before exploding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the planet Keht, the red guard watching over the gate, protecting it for their master's Sokar's return, raised their staff weapons as it activated. The moment the worm hole opened, they began firing. The sphere barely cleared the event horizon before it was struck by a staff blast.

The resulting explosion destroyed the planet, the fleet in orbit and the five moons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aboard Nirrti's ship, she was thrown from her throne when something impacted the shielding. Sirens rang out through the ship. Beside her, Nirrti noticed the debris from an fallen wall sconce started to float as her body felt lighter. Glaring, she quickly tried to rise to her feet only to find herself shooting towards the ceiling with the sudden action.

She impacted against the gilded ceiling, then rebounded off towards the deck plating below. Growling in anger, she reached out for her throne when it came near and clutched on to it for support. After she had stabilized her position in the weightless enviroment, she glanced about for someone to yell at. To her dismay, none of her generals had surived the explosion.

Tapping on the controls, she programmed the ring transport to activate when she had floated in to their field. After that, she programmed the ship to self destruct. Shoving off from the throne, she drifted quickly towards the rings. Three feet shy of her goal, another explosion impacted her ship and the remaining power died. Nirrti missed the rings when they failed to activate and shot off down the corridor of her ship, gaining speed.

With nothing to slow her down, she was soon moving fast enough for everything to pass in a blur. Her desperate attempts to grab on to something started her spiraling. It was on one of her under tumbles she saw the crystal fragment remains of a control panel she was heading for. Growling in anger, she grabbed her ankles and balled her body up to brace for impact.

The shattering of crystals all around her was the last thing she felt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daniel crowed in triumph as the first wave of his ships collided with and exploded on impact of the goa'uld fleet. Each ship had been equipt with a war head designed to exploded when the ship impacted. That explosion would be big enough to damage the shields of a Ha'tak. Smirking, he glanced over at the hatch where Ptah had been sucked out of. "Is the next fleet ready?"

"Yes, and so are the remaining three. I have activated all the warheads." Malik shut down the imager of his control consol and stepped back from it. "The rest are now at your command, Jolinar."

"That's good." Not looking at the Tok'ra, he manipulated the ship controls. "Time to go, Aldwin. You've been very helpful."

"The destruction of the System Lords has been the dream of every Tok'ra. It has been an honor to serve with you, Jolinar." Aldwin stiffened when Daniel turned to look at him. "It will has been done as you asked."

"I did not ask." Turning his back on Aldwin, Daniel went back to directing the stolen fleet on its suicide run. "Three thousand ships, all with one purpose, to destroy themselves and take as many others as they can with them. What a delightful idea, I will have to thank the Tau'ri for it."

Malik hardened himself to the feeling of intense revulsion. So many lives wasted so that his people would see victory. Grabbing his sibling by the arm, he dragged Aldwin to the ring transport. Pressing his control crystal, he activated the rings. "See you in the underworld, Jolinar." The rings activated and the room around them disappeared. When they rematerialized, they were back in the control room they had left Garshaw in.

Moving quickly, Malik assumed Daniel's former position at the controls. He powered up the hyperdrive and took the ship in to hyperspace.

Garshaw was thrown from her feet with the ship's sudden acceleration. Rolling to a stop, she looked up to see Paul in a similar position. When she felt confident in her own body, she climbed to her feet. Glaring at Malik, she clenched her fist at him. "What is going on here?"

"The end of our enemies." Rising from the controls, Malik came around the central imager to kneel beside Garshaw. He quickly removed the anklet and tossed it aside. "A year ago, Jolinar and I formed a plan to use the resources at his command to destroy the goa'uld with the very weapons they use to hunt us. For the past year, we have been attacking Goa'uld worlds, taking what we could, ships and chappa'ai included, then destroying their world."

"Just when did you plan on informing the council of these actions. By our imprisonment, I assume you have yet to do so." Finally free, she walked over to Paul and removed his own restraints. Helping him to stand, she checked his stomach for any damage.

Paul pushed her hand off. "We're fine! I just want to know what the hell is going on."

Garshaw turned back to Malik. Noting that Aldwin was too looking at him, she felt a little vindication in his deception. "You both have much explaining to do."

"Do not be harsh with Aldwin, it is my deception, not his. Aldwin was doing as we manipulated him." Turning to Aldwin, Malik raised an eyebrow. "The Primta, where is she?"

"It is a pain in the ass!" Paul rubbed at his belly, softly stroking the pulsing skin.

"Yes, I would assume so. Hosting a queen is extremely painful for a male Jaffa." Malik glared at Aldwin before stepping over to Paul. "Male Jaffa are not supposed to mature a queen, it is the rite of a female priestess. Where is Johen?"

"You killed her when I escaped. Only the primta survived." Coming up beside Paul, he put himself between Malik and the human. "Garshaw was forced to create a pouch in the Tau'ri in order to save both him and your precious primta. Had it not been for his need, we would have spaced the damnedable thing."

"Then you would have killed our mother!" Glaring at Aldwin, Malik seized him up for a minute before heading back to the control chair. "The plan was a modified version of our mother and sire's. We would lour the goa'uld in to an ambush, use the stolen fleet to cripple them, and then send a bomb through a stolen chappa'ai to their home world to destroy it."

Sitting down, he activated the holo imager so they could watch the continuing battle they had left behind. "Our plan was to kill them one by one, making it look like they were killing each other. It was simpler than taking them all on at the same time. We would use fewer resources, lose less people. Hopefully they would start killing each other. But the treaty of the Tau'ri destroyed our plans, we had to accelerate our time. This involved using the Asguard and dragging Sokar out of hiding sooner than intended. As you can see, it was a very efficient plan."

The image showed repeated blasts destroying damaged and fleeing ships. Even the Asguard fleet was taking losses. Over half the ships were now floating derelicts.

"What of the primta? Where did that come in?" Garshaw knelt beside the thinking Malik.

"We told Aldwin she was a queen Jolinar planned on replacing his mother with and starting his own empire. He was to steal her and run for another world, a queen of our own to interogate would be too much for him to over look." Sighing, he looked away from the imager long enough to shoot a glare at Aldwin. "We had not anticipated him acting so quickly, nor stealing a Tel'tac we were modifying with a phase cloak. At the time we did not know you had the technology. It seems we were not as secure as we thought when he came around. As for the purpose of the primta, she is a clone of Egaria based upon samples taken by Nirrti at the time of her extraction from her last host by Ra."

With a gasp, Garshaw faced the angry Paul.

Seeing her reaction, Paul took a step back. "Oh no, I am not going to let this worm stay inside me any longer than necessary. When we get back to Tok'ra central, I am having this little booger removed!"

"Of course!" Standing, she moved to his side again. "I was merely going to suggest you take better care of yourself now that we know the identity of the symbiot you carry. You can not be allowed to damage the queen in any way."

"Hold on, sweet cheeks. You still haven't gotten to the point of why this." Stomping to Malik, he picked the Tok'ra up by the vest. "Now you tell me why I am carrying this particular little snake in my gut before I start to get angry!"

Pushing Paul off him, Malik adjusted his vest and sat back down. "You carry the future of my species. If everything goes according to plan, she will be the last surviving queen." Malik smirked at Paul's glare. "When there are no more primta, the Jaffa will die. If they wish to continue living, they will come to us."

"And the Tok'ra will have their own private army of Jaffa. I thought you people said you weren't the goa'uld."

Malik let out a short bark of laughter. "You are one to talk. Your own government have been creating their own Jaffa army for the day in which they will have to deal with the Goa'uld on their own terms. General Hammond knows that the Goa'uld would not respect his authority unless he had a Jaffa army. After all, a goa'uld is nothing without his Jaffa." Cracking up, he slapped the arm rest.

"So you have a spy." Paul eyed him wearily. "Who is it? It's not like you need them anymore, your plan is complete."

"Unfortunately for our spy, he got in the way of Jolinar's escape." Shrugging, Milak sat back in the control chair. "He was a member of SG-6, a security man. I don't know his name, just that Jolinar said the leak was plugged." Snorting, he scratched the back of his head. "Now, be silent, I am watching this."

Together they watched the holo imager as the last of the war ships were destroyed. After the last light winked out, a short pause filled the room.

"Where is Jolinar?"

Malik tapped at the controls until another light appeared on the imager. "You were correct, Garshaw, Jolinar did have a death wish." When he pressed the control again, the light went out. "Good bye, Jolinar."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The controls went dark as the last of his ships was destroyed. Daniel sat back in his chair, flexing his aching hand. The war was finally over. Smiling, he stood up from the control console and walked over to the ship's controls.

Pressing his hand to the activation orb of the Alkesh, he was surprised when the engines didn't activate. "Malik!"

The orb let out a high pitched chirp. A moment later the main hatch was blown open.

As the air was sucked out around him, Daniel clutched the control desperately. He opened his mouth to scream only to have the air sucked from his lungs and the fluids from his stomach. Shuddering violently from the pain, he screamed internally as his eyes and tongue turned to ice. The blood vessels in his skin burst and with a final shudder, he was completely frozen.

In the now exposed cockpit, silence reigned.

 

THE END..................

Epilogue:

In the cold dark of space a small vessel attached itself to a floating Alkesh. Slowly, pressure was restored to the control room, but the temperature was left alone. Three figures in enviromental suits entered the control room of the Alkesh from the small vessel.

The leader gesture at the controls. Recieving nods from the other two, he moved off to it. Holding up the laser torch in his hand, he started slicing in to the control consol.

The other two did the same with the chair until the figure frozen in the chair had been freed.

Upon freeing their burden, they picked it up carefully and hauled it back to their ship. After the hatch was shut, the pressure in the control room disappeared and the two ships drifted apart. Slowly, the small ship navigated the massive debris field. Upon clearing it, the ship jumped to hyperspace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack sat bored in the middle of a briefing just like a hundred others. Since the decimation of the goa'uld fleets and their home worlds a year ago, their wasn't really much thrill to going through the gate. Sure, there was the occaisional world that still held a goa'uld in high esteem that they liberated, but the last one of those had been four months ago. Since then, the worlds they could reach from the Abydos Cartouche had just been pretty much boring, run of the mill worlds.

Sighing, he figured it was time for a vacation. He glance up to the man explaining the figures the UAV had found on the wall of a temple it had crashed in. Lieutenant Blackwood was the most recent addition to SG-1. The man was as dull as watching wet paint dry, the grass grow, and the PGA tour all rolled up in to one. Mentally, Jack was already doing his favorite past time, going over potential canidates for his replacement.

Out of boredom, he checked his watch. Two hours the dweeb had been at it. Feeling that all his charity had been used up, Jack stood up. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Report to SG-8, you will be going through on this mission with them. SG-1 has other important things to do." Jack glanced to General Hammond. "Sir."

"You may go, Colonel." Shaking his head, Hammond mentally tallied up yet another victim of the infamous Colonel's ill will toward replacements. He often wondered if the man would ever be satisfied. Two years and the other man still hadn't found his new fourth member. It was tempting just to assign him someone permanently, but that would go against what he felt made SG-1 special. "Thank you for your presentation, Lieutenant. Report here tomorrow for reassignment to SG-8 for the duration of the mission."

"Yes, sir." Blackwood knew what he really meant. This would probably be his last time through the gate as a member of the SGC. More than likely he would be exported to one of the new colonies for their Archiological teams. As far as he was concerned, it was exactly what he hoped for. The moment he learned he was on the fast track for SG-1, he knew he was bound to end up for the Colonies. This credit would earn him his own team. As he gathered up his things, he accepted the knowing nods from Teal'c and Major Carter with good graces. It wouldn't do to let them know on the inside he was doing hand stands.

As she passed by the Lieutenant, Sam glanced to Teal'c. She giggled when he just raised an eyebrow. They both knew what had been going through the man's mind. They had caught on to his game the moment he laid out a three hour presentation. If they weren't fired for incompetence, O'Niell's cast offs got plum assignements off world. To deliberately set this up took planning and cunning.

Moving on down the corridor for the elevators, she folded her arms. "Do you ever think about retirement, Teal'c? Go spend time with your family in the Land of the Light?"

"I have. Since the last battle with the goa'uld, I have contemplated my warrior's existance as one of futility. There will always be battles to be fought, wars waged, yet I have nothing to show for my accomplishments. My people are dying without the goa'uld." He paused as the elevator arrived to take them up. Stepping in, he waited until the doors closed before continue. "In fact, there are reports of Jaffa being ambushed and their primta being removed, only to be left to die slowly."

"If it wasn't so disturbingly true, I would say it was just rumors." Sam had heard from the Tok'ra that many Jaffa had turned to marauding lesser Jaffa armies just for their symbiots. The cannabilization of Goa'uld had led them to conclude that the only safe thing was to accelerate growth of the queen they had in their pocession. "I only hope they succeed without killing the new queen. The Tok'ra that is. Sorry, doing a little thinking."

"I too share that hope. Many of my people, I believe, would benefit from a relationship with the Tok'ra." When the elevator dinged their floor, Teal'c stepped out first to scan the corridor. An old habit he did not intend to let lapse. Since there was no reason to continue the training he had been put through, he made a special effort to keep it alive.

Sam just humored him. Stepping off the elevator, she pointed towards her lab. Their eyes met for longer than was necessary, and she smiled for him. "I have to go, the new Naquadah generator the Tok'ra helped me design is waiting for me."

"And my second is more than likely scaling the elevated surfaces from boredom." Hearing her giggle again made his chest tight. Inclining his head in acknowledgement, he turned to go.

"Teal'c."

"Yes, Major Carter?"

"Nothing. I'll let you go on."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The tank bubbled calmly around the now thawed out corpse. Floating in the water, it slowly drifted from side to side. The sewing at the back of the neck and along the spine was all that held the spinal cord inside the body.

Over the corpse, two figures moved, preparing the body for transport. A third person held the jar with the removed symbiot. Taking the symbiot to other side of the room, he glanced in the jar with sadness. With a sigh, he put the jar in a large chamber and sealed the door. A humming was heard then he opened the door. The jar was now empty.

Leaving the jar there, he closed the chamber and looked back at the body.

Very soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Jack entered the control room, he knew something big was going on. His mind picked up as if from a fog. Glancing to the General, he raised an eyebrow. "Sir?"

"Jack, we got word from the Tollan. It seems a Goa'uld crashed on their new home world a week ago. It was only this morning they got a word out of him, and that was from the host. He asked for you by name." Hammond saw the dark look cross Jack's face and held up a hand to stall any forth coming arguements. "He says his name is Skarra, Jack. We just confirmed his identity over the computers. He wants you to come, he needs your help."

"What does the kid need me to do?" Already planning on how many Tollan he had to kill, Jack's trigger finger itched.

"He needs to you argue for him in defence. The goa'uld inside him claims he is the host and has no rights. If no one goes there to defend him, the goa'uld will be allowed to keep him as host."

"Over my dead body."

"I thought you'd say that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Listen up, you snobby bitch! We're going to take the kid, we're going to kill that snake, and then we are going to return him to his people. You even lift one finger to stop us and it will be the last thing you ever do. Do I make myself clear?" Smirking at the smug woman's outraged expression, Jack tipped his cap at her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a snake to kill."

"You will not!" Standing, High Chancellor Trevel slammed her gavel down. "Guards, seize him!"

"Oh, I think not." Jack zatted the two guards as they came near. Turning around, he zatted the High Chancellor. "I should do you a third time! Turning back to Skarra, he grabbed the kid by the shoulder. "Come on, let's get out of here and get rid of that snake."

Staring at Jack in shock, Skarra nodded. "How? I thought they nullified your weapons when you stepped through the gate."

"They did." Jack guided them in to the hall and towards the exit of the Curia building. Stepping outside of the building, he smirked at the passing Tollans. He held up the device around his wrist to his mouth and whispered in to it. "Two to beam up, Scotty."

"My name is not Scotty, O'Niell."

"Oh, for pete's sake, just get us out of here." Wrapping an arm around Skarra, Jack smiled. "We're gonna get you home, little buddy." The metalic groan of the rings decending from the hovering Tel'tac filled the square and caused people to flee. "Sweet." The next moment Jack and Skarra disappeared in the rings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carefully arranging the body in the sarcophagus, the three figures began to paint on the symbols of rebirth. They quickly moved about the body, cleaning up extra ink and spillage to make it perfectly done. The eyes were painted and the lips retouched with a red color. When the paints and dyes had dried, a red veil was layed over the face and the arms were crossed over the chest.

Stepping back, the three figures turned the symbols on the sarcophagus to activate it. They watched as the sides came up and the arms closed over the face. With a stone snap, the entire box was sealed.

All they could do now was wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack sat with his back to the wall of the hut. Drinking a glass of the local brew, he smiled drunkenly to Skarra. "Your sister's kids, pure hellions."

"I know, they are the most beautiful things I have seen." Catching sight of a girl from a neighboring tribe, Skarra smiled. "Well, second."

"That's my boy!" Slapping Skarra on the back, he downed half the glass. With a gasp of appreciation, he licked his lips. "Nothing better than that cactus flower concoction."

"That's distilled with Schad fur, O'Niell. It gives extra flavoring." Snickering at the older man's grimace, Skarra took a drink of his own. The tangy flavor of it made his lips pucker. "This is the first year I can taste it without being watered."

"Relax, you earned it. You're a man!" Catching sight of Sha're's twins, he was reminded of just who their father was. "It's a good thing you didn't meet their father. He's a real.... real, complete asshole."

"What is an asshole?" In all seriousness, Skarra tried to focus on Jack's face long enough to get the answer.

"You know that thing between your legs that stinks real bad and you shit from? That's an asshole."

Skarra nodded sagely. "Ah, I know of these. It is a good thing that she and he only were together for a short time then." Smiling, Skarra fingered his glass thoughtfully. "Is Major Maybourne an asshole?"

"Oh yeah, a Major asshole."

"Major Asshole. Perhaps I should call him that next time we meet."

"You do, and I'll kiss a Schad."

"You have a deal!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack stood in full gear next to his team and Major Maybourne. He was busy trying not to bust out laughing as the Major tore him a new one for the remarks of his unofficial son.

"If I ever hear you telling your friends to refer to an officer in such a disrespectful way again, I will have the General bring you up on charges! Is that clear, Jack?"

"Perfectly, Major."

"Good!" Maybourne turned on his heel and stalked from the gate room.

When the door shut behind him, Jack leaned on Teal'c. "Eeee-ah, Eeee-ah, Eeee-ah!" He was laughing so hard, he missed the gate opening and fell off Teal's shoulder to land on the gate room floor.

Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow, grabbed Jack by the pack and dragged him up the ramp to the gate. Upon exiting the other side, he let the man drop to the floor and glanced about him. "Colonel O'Niell, I believe you should take a look at this."

It took Jack a few minutes to calm down enough to open his eyes. Seeing the room was empty but for a large stone sarcophagus, he sobered immeadietly. "This wasn't here when the MALP came through."

"Indeed." Raising his staff weapon, Teal'c scanned for any sign of recent activity. "It does not appear anything else was touched."

"What is to touch?" Sam, stepping through the event horizon, shivered. "There isn't anything.... Oh. How'd that get here." Walking down the steps towards it, she kept her weapon trained on the sarcophagus.

"As I was about to state, I do not know. There are no signs of activity here as there are no tracks in the dust." Moving to the sarcophagus, Teal'c reached out a hand to trace it over the stone surface. "I am unfamiliar with these markings."

"That's because they aren't a language you have encountered. These symbols are ancient Sumerian, possibly from the city of Sumer itself." Lieutenant Marigold adjusted his thick, hornrim glasses. Running a hand over the symbols, he traced them to get a feeling of them. "Definitely Sumer."

"Great, the bat can actually read." Jack, standing up, dusted off his clothes. His back ached and he was starting to develope a head ache. The recent replacement had been the idea of the JCS. This guy was supposed to be the top of his field, some form of language shit Jack couldn't pronounce. Since the Goa'uld were all but nulified, they had authorized less muscular and more brainy nerds. Only problem with the new guy was he was almost legally blind. "Are you sure you don't need to go back to the base and get your dog so he can confirm it for you?"

"Ha, Ha, Colonel. Sumerian is like Brail, I can read it by touching it." Removing his fingers, he rubbed the tips together and ran them over the symbols again. "Okay, I got a translation. Oh mother of all the world, great giver of life and well spring of humanity. We beseech thee to return unto us and give us life eternal. Restore us from deformity and bring life to those beyond our grasp. Basically it is a love poem for a resurrection box. It doesn't say who is inside, just invokes the Goddess' aid in reviving those who us it."

"Great, you've been a lotta help. Now step aside." Aiming his gun, Jack gesture for Teal'c to come close. "Pop the hood, big guy."

Teal'c turned the wheat symbol on the top and the sarcophagus groaned. The sides started to pull back and lower with the sound of bricks rubbing against each other. The last to seperate were the arms over the face. In the glowing white insides the nude figure laid, painted with symbols and face covered with a red cloth. Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

Lowering his weapon, Jack took a half step forward. His breath catching, he reached out to touch the sarcophagus.

Sam's gun slid from her fingers as a hand went to her mouth. "Oh my god."

The figure in the sarcophagus gasped and shot up in to a sitting position. Pulling the veil off his face, Daniel looked around him questioningly. It took his eyes a moment to focus on anything around him. Seeing the barely lit black room, he visibly calmed down. "Oh god, it was just a dream. Just a dream."

"Daniel?" Sam jumped when he turned sharply to focus on her.

"Yeah?" He blinked a couple times and frowned. "Your hair, you've cut it. I was dead again, wasn't I?"

"Pretty much." Leaning against the sarcophagus, Jack reached out and rubbed Daniel's hair. "You gave us quite a scare there, Danny."

"Jack, don't call me that." About to get out of the sarcophagus, Daniel noted his lack of clothes first. "Where are my clothes? Wait a minute, why am I painted with Ceremonial death symbols? Did someone try to stick me in a tomb?"

"Judging by the symbols, I would say yes."

Daniel glanced to the new Lieutenant and frowned. "Who are you?"

"Here we go!"

"Jack?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daniel settled in to his new bed in a VIP room on the base, complimentry of the General. He had been shocked to find that two years had past since his last memory. The Nasians had been uprooted and moved to a new home called the Beta sight, which was a trip in and of itself. Then to learn he had been a host for five days before he died was just plain Twilite Zone material. Life was only going to get harder he had learned.

Despite his overwelming feeling of loss that made it hard to breath at times, he continued on. He had been here a week, and most of his things had been returned. Mysteriously, ninety-nine percent of his pocessions were locked away in a storage unit no one just happened to know how they got there. They simply got put there two years ago and then nothing.

Feeling a sudden urge, Daniel jumped up from the bed and ran for the bathroom. When you gotta go, you gotta go. Since he came back, he had to go quickly or there were bathroom mishaps. They were getting fewer in number, but he wasn't taking any chances.

As he closed the door, his room door opened.

Daniel flushed the toilet and turned off the light, exiting the bathroom. About to close the door, he caught sight of a half nude man getting the rest of his clothes off. "Excuse me, but what are you doing in here?"

Whipping around, Martouf looked at Daniel in shock. "Dr. Jackson!"

"Yeah, that's who I am, now who are you and why are you stripping in my room? Last time I checked, I didn't order a stripper." Catching himself about to plop out, Daniel zipped up his fly and headed for his bed.

"I was unaware this room was in use. They simply said that I was to use one of the VIP rooms for the night." Grabbing up his hand woven shirt, Martouf started for the door.

"Wait a minute." Daniel stopped him before he reached the door. "Don't I know you?"

"We have never met, but I know much about you." Facing Daniel again, Martouf smiled.

"Now I feel awkward. You probably know everything that everyone else did about me, but you are a complete stranger to me." Watching the man carefully, Daniel judged him. He gestured to the chair at the foot of the bed. "I hope you don't mind my asking, but would you mind telling me about yourself? How did you come to the SGC? What race are you from?"

Smiling brightly, Martouf took the offered chair, putting his shirt on the floor beside him. "I am Martouf, my symbiot's name is Lantash. I am a member of the Tok'ra."

"Ah, that explains the shirt. I hear your people are very good at making clothes." Daniel seemed to think on that for a moment. "Wait a minute, no, that is the Tolka. Tok'ra, I'm afraid that doesn't ring any bells."

Sighing, Martouf effected a put upon demeanor. "We are the scourge of the once powerful goa'uld. Now we believe we out number them."

"Goa'uld numbers dropping, that's a good thing. Being the enemy of the bad guys is a very good thing." Daniel caught himself staring intensely at Martouf and glanced down, blushing with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I just feel like I know you from some where. This is rather embarrassing as I keep getting images of what you... must... look like... well, nude."

Martouf flexed his muscles a little as Daniel scanned him again. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, not really. I'm just not normally this straight forward about my sexuality with people. Normally I spend half an hour just getting around asking a person their name." Daniel snorted. "What is it by the way?"

"Martouf."

"Oh yeah, that's right, you already said that. I can't believe I forgot, don't know what I must be thinking..." he trailed off as Martouf stretched for a yahn. "Where are my manners, would you like to sleep with me?"

Martouf paused mid stretch and peered through half closed eyes at Daniel.

"Oh... oh god, just, ignore that. I was wondering if you would like to share the bed as I'm not sure there is another open tonight. There seems to be a big get together tomorrow and a lotta VP's are here." Taking a quick breath, Daniel tried to back peddal further. "The closest to comfort you can get is either this room or the barracs, and trust me, sleeping with me is much better than sleeping with a bunch of marines. And I did it again." Pointing to the empty side of the bed, Daniel covered his face. "You sleep there, I sleep here, good night!"

Chuckling, Martouf nodded. "I believe I will accept your invitation, Dr. Jackson." Stripping down to his undergarments, Martouf reached over and turned off the bed side lamp. As he climbed in to bed, he tried to avoid contact with Daniel's skin. That soon changed with Daniel turned over and curled in to his body. Despite their attempts, Martouf and Daniel found being closer together more comfortable and were soon fast asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting in the Messhall, Daniel couldn't keep the big dopey grin off his face. Even when Jack, Sam, and Teal'c sat down, he kept on grinning like an idiot. "Hey, guys."

Sam gave him a quick hug, still not quite used to having him back in their lives. "Hey, Daniel."

Jack messed up his hair, smirking when Daniel glared at him. "Howdy. That is greeting number one-o-eight. I plan on using all twelve hundred on you just because I can."

"I reall wish you wouldn't." Taking a bite of his oatmeal, Daniel grimaced. "Somethings never change."

"Oh, they did for a while, then General Hammond finally beat Maybourne at his own game and the old cooks got rehired. I think that is one battle Hammond should have lost." Jack stirred his fruitloops with gusto. Sighing, he picked one up and let it drop back in the bowl. "I miss the days of fresh eggs and bacon."

Teal'c nodded his agreement. "I too miss aborted fowl embrios in the morning."

"Gotta work on those jokes, T." Jack pointed at Teal'c with his spoon. Pretending it was a magic wand, he shook at him. "Alakazam, you are now a pickle!"

"Do not make me hurt you, O'Niell." Picking up his own banana, Teal'c carefully and precisely peeled it. "Good morning, Daniel Jackson, you rested well?"

"Yeah, Daniel, what's up with the shit eating grin?" Eating a spoonful of fruitloops, Jack slirped to make Carter grit her teeth.

Daniel was about to answer when he caught sight of Martouf in the line. He waved at the other man and sighed.

"Oh god, not him." Jack snapped his fingers in Daniel's face to get his attention. "Please, tell me you didn't, not with him."

"And what if I did?"

"Daniel!"

"Jack!"

 

.........................................................................The End.


End file.
